The Things We Do For Love
by An End Has A Start
Summary: Edward Cullen has one moment of rash thinking and buys a puppy so he can talk to his local dog walker. This sparks controversy between his friends but they soon come to realise that you’d do anything when you think you’ve found ‘The One’. ExB All Human
1. Chapter 1: Rash Thinking

_Disclaimer: All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer._

**The Things We Do For Love**

**Chapter One: Rash Thinking**

_Edward's POV_

"Hey." Jasper greeted walking into my penthouse apartment after coming from the practice.

"Hi." I said as I shuffled a few of the files round on my coffee table centred in the middle of the living room.

"What is that?" He asked, pointing to the small ball of fluff sleeping on a small blanket in the corner.

"That's…eh well…that's my dog." I answered, looking everywhere but Jasper's eyes.

"Your what?! When did you get a dog? No wait, why did you get a dog?!" I squirmed slightly. I knew I would have to go through this; I just wasn't prepared for Jasper to call the men in white coats to come and pick me up yet.

"Em…there's this dog walker, her name's Bella-"

"No Edward, tell me you didn't buy a puppy so you could talk to the hot dog walker?" I shrugged and tried to make it no big deal but he just groaned and covered his eyes. "How could you?"

"She's really nice. I like her and I wanted a reason to talk to her more." I finished trying to defend my rash actions.

"You lust her Edward, not like. How many times have you seen this woman?"

"I see her all the time in the street. We met about two months ago in passing. She smiled at me so I smiled back. Mrs Gardner on the second floor hires her to walk her two Chihuahuas so I occasionally see her in the elevator. We just talk sometimes and I wanted a reason to see her more, get to know her better." I tried to explain.

"So you couldn't have just asked her out like any normal person?"

"Well I wanted to get to know her first." Jasper sighed and shook his head.

"So she walks your dog now?" I nodded. "This is so Emmett of you." I smiled and was happy that Jasper was done with all the questions. He may not be impressed by my decision but it was a rash one and I'm glad I made it.

"What's its name?"

"Jake." At the sound of his name he opened his eyes and yawned at us.

"I guess he's quite cute." I nodded proudly, that's my boy. "Potty trained?"

"Yep, he goes in the tray set up outside on the balcony."

"You teach him that?"

"Yep."

"When did you get him?"

"Three days ago." Jasper seemed surprised but nodded.

"What have you done with him during the day?"

"Marty on the floor below was more than happy to look after him for me. He has a bull dog and they get on well. But on Monday morning he'll be going out with Bella and the rest of the dogs she walks."

"Well you know what this means?" Jasper said shaking his head. I frowned confused so he expanded. "Emmett's never going to want to leave your apartment. You know how he is with puppies."

Speak of the devil, Emmett walked in carrying a six pack of beer. He placed it on the counter after saying hi then turned to face us, finally spotting the fur ball in the corner. A huge grin broke out across his face before he was lying on his stomach flat down on the floor, face to face with Jake.

"Who is this?" He asked in his puppy voice.

"Jake." I answered, pretending he wasn't speaking in that awful voice.

"He's so sweet. Aw let me have him, please." Jake was now scooped up in Emmett's arms, licking his cheek. "See he likes me, can I have him. Please?" It was like a child pleading for a stray and Jasper and I were the parents.

"No Emmett, you're not responsible to have a puppy yet." Jasper said calmly.

"I am too! Let me have him. I'll take great care of him." Emmett whined. It's hard to believe this guy has graduated in the top ten of our medical class at Cambridge.

"You can't have him because he's mine." At this Emmett looked shocked and angry.

"Why is that you get all the good toys?" I rolled my eyes and shook my head at the absurdity of this conversation.

"He's not a toy Emmett. He's a living being." Jasper pointed out.

"Yeah, a puppy. I know that Jazz but still, I want him, he's so cute." Emmett smiled at Jake as he licked his chin and scrambled about in his arms.

Jasper and I got up from the couches, ignoring Emmett completely, and walked to the kitchen counter to get beer and a pack of cards. It was our poker night, the others would be arriving shortly anyway so we best get set up. As we prepared everything Emmett commando crawled along my wooden floors with the puppy at his side, got Jake to roll over, and sit. I didn't want to burst Emmett's bubble by telling him that the dog had already learnt these things. It's better to be quiet and keep the peace.

My father Carlisle arrived about ten minutes later then Marty, our neighbour, along with his grandson Dan. That made six of us therefore plentiful for a game of Texas Hold' em. We played like every other night and finished up around eleven.

Unfortunately Jake made his presence known during the game by brushing against my father's leg, at which he thought someone was playing footsy with him. I then had to explain to him why I got Jake and just like Jasper, he thought I was losing the plot.

Once everyone was gone it was just me and the pup. He followed me everywhere, staying right behind me, nearly causing a few accidents when I would trip on him. It was oddly nice, having some company in this plain, bland apartment.

There are five bedrooms and three bathrooms, far too many for a bachelor like me. But it's got a great view of the city and is close to the practice. It's the first piece of property I official owned and it took me years to save up for it. It may be big but one day, and I do mean one day, I'll hopefully have a family living in here with me.

I hit thirty last month and it was a real eye opener. Here I was a good looking, rich, bachelor with nothing in his life but his job, and now a puppy. I have been set for life. My father started a plastic surgery office and I followed in his footsteps and am also a plastic surgeon. In medical school I met Jasper and Emmett and we just bonded; now they work at the practice with me and we're highly successful.

So my career has been taken care of now all I have to do is find the right woman for me. This is where I think Bella comes in. Even though I know nothing about her, yet, and haven't had a conversation that's longer than twenty words, I like her. Jasper says lust but I've had that feeling and this is definitely not just that feeling. Granted I do find her attractive but it's the person I want to get to know, not just her body.

It was completely crazy for me to think that I could get to know her more if I bought a dog but at the moment I'm desperate. Apart from the elevator rides and passing each other in the street I have no contact with her, when all I want to do is take her to coffee and sit and listen to her talk for hours on end. She completely intrigues me and I'm bewitched. I have been for so long but now it's finally time to do something about it, come Monday.

_Bella's POV_

I just dropped off all the dogs back at their owners and made it back to my apartment by six. I crashed on the couch immediately and shut my eyes from the exhaustion. This job was only meant to be temporarily but it's become permanent until I know what I want to do with my life.

"Rough day?" Alice asked, coming from her bedroom.

"As always." I muttered.

"Did you get peed on again?" She giggled as she sat on the couch opposite me. I gave her a glare before answering.

"No. It's that stupid Great Dane though, he's huge and causing chaos. I can't control him, especially when the Chihuahua's cling to his ears with their teeth. It's carnage!" Alice laughed and flicked through a fashion magazine, not seeing how awful my situation really was. "Plus it's only going to get worse on Monday." I moaned.

"Why? Are you getting the French Poodle back that has a strict diet?" Luckily I was not, that owner was crazy. Not only was the dog hyper as hell but had to eat at exact times of the day and could only eat certain things, which the pet store never had. I later found out that the food it was meant to eat was human food, exceedingly expensive stuff too.

"No, I'm not. I'm getting a new puppy by the name of Jake."

"That doesn't sound too bad."

"Oh it is." I said shaking my head. "Puppies are disastrous. I don't do puppies."

"So why are you walking this one?" Alice asked frowning.

"Because I just couldn't say no to the guy." I mumbled, getting up and heading into the kitchen.

"Wait…the guy?" I nodded and rooted around in the fridge. "Rose, get in here! Bella's found a guy!" Alice called enthusiastically as I just about choked on my juice.

"What?!" I asked bewildered but Rose had already come running through and perched herself next to Alice. They were both sitting crossed legged on the couch waiting for me to tell them all about this guy.

"What's his name?"

"Is he good looking?"

"What does he do?"

"When did you meet him?"

"Has he asked you out?"

"Do you want to go out with him?" Before they fired off another question I cut them off.

"The both of you shush! It's not like that." They rolled their eyes and nodded to the couch opposite them. I walked over and sat down, wanting the couch to swallow me whole.

"Explain." Rose said, giving me her no nonsense look.

"Fine but don't make any assumptions." I warned as they rolled their eyes at me again. "His name's Edward and I met him about two months ago." Their mouths fell open in surprise and were both going to yell so I continued. "We never spoke to each other until about a month after. He lives in the same building as one of the women I work for and we saw each other in the elevator and halls a lot. That and I'd see him in the street during my walks a lot. Satisfied?" I hoped they were.

"No, you missed out all the good questions." Alice whined, giving me her please-don't-deny-me-this look that she has perfected.

"I don't know what he does. Yes he's good looking. No he's not asked me out and no I don't want to go out with him, that's completely unprofessional." They smiled and I wondered what I'd just said.

"So let's say this hot hallway man was not a client of yours, would you go out with him then?" Alice asked sweetly.

"No." I said firmly.

"Liar." Rose muttered under her breath causing Alice to giggle.

"Come on, seriously Bella, you wouldn't go out with him if he asked?"

"Fine, yes I would but he wouldn't ask so problem solved. I'm going to shower." I quickly made my exit while I could. No doubt they'd have me there all night talking about Edward and there was no way I was doing that.

I was already nervous enough about seeing him again. Come Monday I'll be seeing a lot more of him and I'm not really looking forward to it. He seems like a nice guy but I just act like an idiot in front of him. I don't even know why I said I would walk his puppy. I have a no puppy rule as they're so excited and that's the last thing I need, one excited dog to make the rest of them go crazy. But for some reason I just couldn't say no when he asked and I have no idea why.

A.N.

So another new story, a bit similar with Jake being another dog again but there is a different plot for this one. I like the whole Jake as a dog idea but hopefully this won't become too repetitive with my other story.


	2. Chapter 2: Little Helper

_Disclaimer: All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer_

**The Things We Do For Love**

**Chapter Two: Little Helper**

_Edward's POV_

Monday had arrived and I was nervous, though of what I don't know. Jake was bustling about my apartment as I got ready for work and eventually tired himself out, so collapsed on the couch. By eight o'clock someone knocked at the door so it had to be Bella.

I answered and greeted her, noticing she had the two Chihuahua's with her. Once Jake saw the other dogs he was off the couch like a shot and jumping up at Bella, she didn't seem to mind though.

"I guess this is the little guy then." She said, scratching him behind his small ears.

"Yeah. I don't think he'll be too much of a problem." She gave me a nod that said I had no idea what I was talking about. "He's not strong and doesn't eat much."

"That's fine. I'll take good care of him. When will you be back in so I can drop him off?" She asked, brushing her hair out of her beautiful brown eyes.

"Eh…em…do you think you could drop him off at my practice around five?"

"Where's your practice?"

"Two blocks east. Next to the new university building."

"Oh yeah I know where you are. Yeah I can do that."

"And if you want I can take Mrs Gardner's dogs back too, safe you a trip."

"That's would be great, thanks." She nodded and took Jake's leash from me before saying goodbye and walking away. I closed the door behind me and groaned inwardly. Although we are talking at this rate it'll take me years to get to know her properly.

I stood up straight and took a step back from the door; it would be fine I kept telling myself over and over again. Suddenly the door barged open and collided with my head. I cursed and clasped the now bruised skin.

"It wasn't me!" Emmett declared with his hands up.

"You're the only person who walked in!" I called, sitting down.

"Well maybe it was a ghost." He shrugged and got me some ice. "Anyway I came to tell you not to go to the office today. You are on hospital duty!" He declared.

Although I am a plastic surgeon I don't find the job at all satisfying. I only stick with it as the money has it's perks and no before you think I just want to get rich it's not for that. We do forty five percent pro bono cases. We would do more but have to keep the business afloat otherwise we can't do any.

On top of that we are on call surgeons for the local hospitals and each work there twice a week. It's out way of helping as many people as possible. On occasions we'll do free lectures at the local community colleges and universities. If they insist that they pay we ask them to make the cheque out to a charity.

Jasper, Emmett and I all have nice apartments and decent cars but other than that we live off of necessities. Most of the money we give to others or put into pro bono work; it would be selfish to hoard it when there are people in need.

"So go to St John's and stop round at the practice around four if you can, we'll be finishing up on a money train." That was Emmett's name for the customers we get that come in every month wanting something new done.

"Okay, I'll see you later." Emmett and I both got up and left, locking the door behind me.

St John's was six blocks away so I walked it and arrived shortly after. The receptionist sent me off to the main doctor on the floor, my father. After running the practice for years he handed it off to me and took up working in the public sector full time. Unfortunately for him he couldn't do that much pro bono work as he was the only surgeon available. Since there are three of us we can do a lot more.

"Hey, so you're on hospital duty again?" Carlisle asked, flicking through a patients chart.

"Yeah. Where do you want me?"

"Accident and Emergency. Two doctors called in sick and one was assaulted about an hour ago by a drunk. Enjoy." He pointed to an extra white coat hanging in the staff rec. room and then to a bunch of charts belonging to the long line of folk in the waiting area, who knew it would be this busy on a Monday.

Five hours later I was exhausted on my feet, had to change my shirt as a baby was sick on me, getting annoyed at the nurses with their obvious flirting and I was losing my patience with the four year old in bed two who had kicked my shins four times already. It had been a hectic morning and I still had two hours left.

Just when I though this day couldn't get any more stressful in limps my dog walker. Bella hobbled to the reception and answered her questions before being told to take a seat. She hobbled back and sat there waiting. Another doctor on the floor was called up to take another patient and he called Bella's name. She followed him through to bed five. Before he disappeared I called his name.

"Are you any good with kids?" I asked. It wasn't just because I wanted to talk to Bella, it was because that four year old hated me and I didn't want any more bruises.

"Yeah, why? Tough patient?"

"Four year old in two. Won't let me take blood and kicks like hell. Want her?" He thought about it then nodded.

"Why not, I don't want to get out here soon and with mine I'll be waiting on x-rays." We swapped charts and I headed off to bed five. The curtain was drawn so I pulled it back and smiled at Bella who was sitting on the bed.

"Hi again."

"Oh hey. You work here?"

"Sort of." I sat down and nodded towards her leg. "So mind telling me what happened?"

"I tripped." She said as I inspected her swollen ankle.

"On?"

"A leash." She smiled shyly.

"Speaking of that, what did you do with the dogs?"

"I dropped them off back at my apartment. They're safe."

"Oh I know. I don't mind. So whose leash did you fall over?" She flinched when I touched a sore spot and eyed me carefully.

"I don't know. It was blue." I nodded, sounds like Jakes. "Big dog or small?" She flinched again as I lightly touched the back of her ankle.

"Small. There's no way I could have fallen over the Great Dane's, he's just too big." From what I could remember Mrs Gardner's leashes are black and pink.

"How many dogs do you walk?" I asked as tried to move her foot, seeing how much movement she had in it.

"Four at the moment. There was meant to be five but the black lab's on holiday." I nodded. Yep she fell over Jake's leash.

"Well I'm going to send you for x-rays and I'll see you in a bit. Here, these will help you." I handed her some crutches and showed her to the x-ray department. About thirty minutes later she was back in bed five and I had the x-rays.

"Good news for you, it's not broken. Bad news, you'll have to use crutches for about two weeks just to make sure it heals okay. You should not be putting any pressure on it, that will only make the pain worse. Over the counter pain meds are fine if it gets sore, you shouldn't require anything stronger. And may I suggest stop walking the dogs it'll be exceedingly tricky."

"No I can still do that." I gave her a pleading look, from what I saw of her medical file she's in here often. "Okay how about I only walk the small dogs, I'll not walk the Great Dane until I'm healed."

"That would be perfect if it wasn't a small dog you fell over. My dog to be exact." She blushed and shook her head.

"Its fine I don't mind."

"Can I take you to dinner, sort of as an I'm sorry my dog injured you thing?" I asked nervously. Honestly it was so I could spend more time with her but didn't need her to know that.

"That's not necessary." She stated.

"Please?" I asked again, unleashing the full effect of my eyes on her. My mother, Esme, always told me I could get whatever I wanted if I knew how to use them properly, a talent I've perfected.

"Fine. Call me to set it up." I nodded and remembered where I had put her business card. "I'll have your dog back to you later; I'll get my roommate to drop him off."

"Thanks." She smiled and walked away on crutches. The minute she was out of sight I smiled triumphantly. On the way home I'm going to buy Jake a huge bone, he did me a massive favour, though it would have been better if she hadn't hurt herself in the process.

Once my shift was done I headed over to the practice to meet Jasper and Emmett. They had just finished surgery and sent the woman into recovery. They went over a few pro bono cases with me that they wanted to take up then we got to talking about my shift.

"It wasn't brilliant but then things turned around. Jasper, you thought I was crazy buying a dog to get me closer to the dog walker but he's already succeeded in doing so." I said happily.

"How?" Jasper asked confused.

"Is Jake here?!" Emmett asked excitedly, looking under the table for him.

"No."I said pointedly. "He tripped her and she was in the accident and emergency clinic today. Since it was my dog that caused all this I asked to make it up to her by letting me take her to dinner and she said yes. He's my little helper."

"Do you think he could help find the right girl for me?" Emmett asked hopefully.

"Doubtful, I thought you said that no one girl was for you, you deserved a group of girls." Jasper pointed out.

"Pfft. I was foolish when I said that."

"You said that two weeks ago." Emmett shrugged and made this weird face as though so say he didn't care.

"Whatever. I'm lonely. Eddie's getting his girl so I should get mine."

"She's not my girl Emmett, not yet anyway." I said, for all I know Bella could just think of me as an acquaintance or eventually a friend.

"Well whatever." He wandered out the room muttering to himself leaving Jasper and me alone.

"You honestly don't think that your dog can get you closer to the dog walker?" I nodded. "That's crazy."

"Well how do you explain what happened today?" I asked.

"Coincidence, luck."

"Fate." I said happily. Jasper rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"No such thing."

"So you're telling me that nothing happens for a reason, it's just a coincidence if things work out."

"Yes."

"So when you meet the girl of your dreams it's going to be a luck that brought you together, not fate?"

"Exactly." I shook my head.

"Everything happens for a reason. I was meant to get Jake and he is meant to lead me to Bella. Fate." I nodded and Jasper looked like he was in pain.

"You have officially lost it." He called as he walked away.

Since there was nothing keeping me at the practice I gathered my things and headed home. Just like Bella said, her roommate had dropped Jake off, except I hadn't been there so the guy at the front desk took him for me.

Once Jake and I were settled upstairs I looked out the bone I bought him on the way home and placed it next to his bed. It was practically as big as him but that didn't hinder him when tackling it with his jaws. It was like a mini conquest for the dog, to eat something as big as him.

He's certainly done me some good so far. I just have to worry about where to take Bella for our dinner now.

_Bella's POV_

I wandered up the stairs in my apartment, now annoyed that the land lord hadn't got the elevator fixed, on crutches and hobbled inside. Alice was perched on the couch looking over a bunch of Polaroid's on the coffee table. She turned to great me then her eyes went wide.

"Bella, what happened?!"

"I tripped."

"What else is new?" She rolled her eyes. "What did you trip on?"

"A leash. Hazard of the job I guess." I sat down next to her and glanced at all the Polaroid's, they were all of clothing items and accessories, she was arranging what outfit would look good.

"It was those troublesome Chihuahua's wasn't it?"

"No Alice it was the new puppy." For some reason she hated Mrs Gardner's dogs, they tried to attack her Jimmy Choo shoes I think.

"Oh, well. That's a pain."

"Yeah. So I had to go to the emergency room only to find that the doctor going to treat me was the dog's owner."

"Seriously, hot hallway man is a doctor? I didn't picture that." She mused to herself. "So he's hot and a doctor, quite a catch."

"Well he worked out it was his dog and it now taking me to dinner."

"Tonight?!" Alice cried jumping up excitedly.

"No, I told him to call." She slumped her shoulders and sat back down.

"Oh. But still you're going on a date with him. That's great!"

"It's not a date." I told her. "He is just trying to make it up to me that his dog tripped me."

"That's what he wants you to think." Alice winked at me and giggled. I rolled my eyes at her antics.

"I take it Rose is still out."

"Yep. Won't be back till ten tonight." I nodded. "Then we can tell her all about the hot doc."

"Will you stop giving him names like that? His name's Edward." It would really help if she stopped referring to him as hot, I already know that in some sense of the way but I didn't need to be reminded of how good looking he really was.

That thought brought me back to his mesmerising emerald eyes that completely wiped my brain of all thoughts earlier. He totally knew he was doing it to. I'll have to find a way to get him back for that, perhaps I'll find a way to dazzle him too. More specifically I'll dazzle him at our dinner. Why not, that's how he got me there in the first place.

A.N.

Eh…it's not right but will do for now.


	3. Chapter 3: Just Dinner

_Disclaimer: All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer._

**The Things We Do For Love**

**Chapter Three: Just Dinner**

_Edward's POV_

Emmett barged in without knocking like usual and beamed at me and Jasper as we sat on my couch watching a work related DVD. He strode in, grabbed the remote, paused the movie and grinned like the Cheshire cat at us.

"What's going on, Em?" Jasper asked frowning.

"I think I'm in love." He announced.

"Oh no, not you too?" Jasper moaned, rubbing his forehead.

"What do you mean not him too? I'm not in love Jazz, I just like Bella." I declared, defending my haywire thinking as of late. "So who is she?" I asked.

"Her name is Rosalie Hale and she's amazing."

"Alright, where did you meet her?" Jasper asked, trying to see if he could come to terms with what was going on.

"On the way here last night, I was walking past the university building and ended up walking into her-"

"On purpose?" I asked, he had a tendency to do that to girls he liked.

"No, that's the great thing. I didn't even notice her, though I don't know how I didn't as she's stunning, but anyway we collided and did the usual sorry thing then she said she had to go or she would be late for her class. Now I didn't really want to stop talking to her so I asked if she had a class in the university and it turns out she did. I then asked which class she had as I had one too-"

"You lied." Jasper pointed out to be quickly shushed by Emmett.

"This is the great thing. She was taking a car mechanic course." He beamed. "Then I said how funny it was cause I was too and we went to the class together."

"But Emmett you are practically a qualified mechanic, you know everything there is, why take the class?"

"Cause I love her." He said seriously.

"So you're working with this Rose girl in class now when you know everything already?" Jasper asked, looking at Emmett like he was insane.

"Well that's where things get hazy." He mumbled.

"What do you mean 'get hazy'?" I questioned.

"It turns out she actually teaches the class and I am her student." He shrugged and made a face as though to say how was he meant to know.

"Wait, let's rewind here. How did you even get into the class, don't you have to apply months in advance for these things?"

"I was lucky here you see, it's a walk in class, anyone can be a part of it."

"So Emmett, walk me through this, what do you thinks going to happen now?" Jasper asked, eyeing him carefully.

"Well I hope that Rose and I can get to know each other better then when I ask her out she'll say yes and then things will go from there."

"She won't date you." I pointed out.

"Hey! There's nothing wrong with me. Plus I supported your crazy plan to get with the hot dog walker, help me get with the hot teacher." Emmett cried.

"No Em, that's not what I meant. She's your teacher and you're her student, even in these open classes they don't allow you to date, it's unprofessional."

"Oh." Emmett froze. "I never thought of that, damn. Now what do I do?"

"Leave the class." Jasper said rationally.

"No, I can't. I love her."

"You just met her."

"But I love her." Emmett said, thinking that explained everything. "Hold on, Edward?"

"Yeah." I looked at him expectantly waiting for him to explain.

"So you're saying that teacher and student relationships are unprofessional, in my condition, I wouldn't condone it if kids were at school." Em said looking at me.

"Well of course, she grades the work you do, helps you out, criticizes you. If you were sleeping with her it might make her biased or if you two broke up it would be uncomfortable."

"So would you say the same for an employer and employee relationship?" He asked curiously.

"Of course. That's we were not allowed to date any of the people we hire at the practice." I said, nodding.

"Well then you're screwed too, aren't you?" Emmett said he crossed her arms across his chest.

"How?"

"Bella is the employee and you are the employer, you just said it's unprofessional. I guess your luck just ran down the drain."

"No, wait!" I said standing up. "That's different."

"How?" Jasper asked, smirking a bit.

"Eh…well…I don't know it just is. She walks my dog." I said quickly trying to defend my rash thinking that caused me to buy Jake who was sitting in the corner still gnawing on the bone that was now a third the size of him.

"Yeah but you're still paying her. If you two hooked up you would basically be paying her to sleep with you."Jazz said.

"No, she's not a hooker."

"I know that but you pay her and sleep with her, does that not sound really bad?"

"Yeah but if we got together I would fire her."

"I'm sure that would go down with a hoot." Emmett said laughing. "Honey let's have sex, oh by the way you're fired." He imitated, so I slapped him on the head.

"It wouldn't be like that."

"Sure." He said grinning again.

"Hold on, I thought we were talking about Emmett's problems, not mine."

"You and Emmett have the same problem." Jasper said, looking bored with us. "Basically you both have lost your minds and are doing crazy things in the name of 'love'. I'm going to go; I don't want to catch whatever illness you to have caught that could cause me to do irrational things for girls who will never date me. Bye." Jasper finished by closing the door.

"Well he's grumpy today." Emmett said, rooting around in my fridge now.

"Maybe he's lonely."

"He'll find his girl."

"Just like we found ours?" Emmett handed me a beer and smiled.

"Yeah." I grinned thinking of Bella.

_Bella's POV_

Edward had called last night to arrange our dinner together for this evening. Alice was not happy with me as I didn't ask where we would be going. She said she needed to know so she could plan the perfect outfit that would knock him off his feet. I just rolled my eyes at her and left her to it, no doubt she'll have the perfect outfit ready for me tonight.

"Here put this on." Alice ordered after I had showered and dried my hair. "You're going to be smart but casual." I was told.

"That's a dress." I said looking at the item on the coat hanger.

"Really? Wow I thought it was a dungarees!" Alice said sarcastically, forcing it into my arms and pushing me back into the bathroom.

I put on the knee length blue dress and agreed with Alice. It looked smart and casual, not like I was trying to impress or catch people's attention. Making my way out of the bathroom Alice chucked a jacket at me as she ran off to get shoes.

"Remember, no heels. I'm already on crutches and don't need another injury." I called after her. She came back with blue ballet flats that match my dress and looked me over once I was fully dressed.

"You look amazing." She proclaimed.

"Thanks, but this isn't a date so I don't know if I should look 'amazing'." For all I knew Edward could arrive in jeans and a t-shirt.

"He won't."

"How do you know?" I asked.

"Because I know everything. Now, do you have your cell phone and keys?"

"Yes."

"And are you going to be drinking tonight?"

"I don't plan on it."

"Yes or no?"

"No."

"Good. Do you plan on coming home?"

"Who are you, my mother?" I asked as Alice giggled.

"Do you plan on coming home?" She asked seriously but I could see the smile playing on her lips.

"Yes."

"Good, you can tell me all about him." And with that she gave me a hug just as someone knocked on the door.

"Coming!" I yelled as I made my way over to the door. When I opened it I was met with Edward in black slacks, a white crisp cotton shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and his black jacket laid over his arm. He looked gorgeous.

"Hi." He said smiling softly. "Ready to go?" I nodded, not trusting myself to speak and shut the door, following him out of the building and to his car. He opened the door for me and helped me get in, crutches and all, then made his way round and drove us to the restaurant. On the way there he inquired about my ankle and how everything was going, basically doing a follow up on my injury.

He pulled up outside The Pier, an exceeding expensive restaurant by the harbour and chucked his keys to the chauffeur as we made our way inside. I was nervous as hell now; he had taken me to a restaurant that you have to have reservations a year in advance for. There was already quite a gathering of people waiting to be seated but when we walked in a gentleman walked over and immediately showed us to our table.

"Edward you have to let me pay for my dinner, there is no way forking out this much money on me is the same as me injuring my ankle." I said after we had ordered. The service was exceedingly fast.

"Nonsense." He said smiling. "Because of me you have to cut back on the amount of hours you do and therefore your income lowers, I want to make it up to you a bit. Please, let me pay for everything tonight?" He shot me an irresistible look with his emerald eyes that had me licking my lips and just nodding. He keeps dazzling me, it's so unfair.

The rest of the dinner was…okay I guess. It seemed like everyone in the restaurant knew Edward and kept coming over to say hello. We hadn't been able to talk at all and he kept apologising for it but by the time he finished someone else had come over to thank him for the amazing job he did. He nodded politely and introduced me to them but they were much more concerned with talking to Edward and ignoring me completely.

The only thing that made the dinner good was the food. It was exquisite and I now understood why every food critic claimed it was the best place to eat. Though I did feel a little bad for Edward, his food got cold as he had to stop eating to talk to people and he barely ate anything. After dessert, which Edward didn't get to touch, he called for the cheque. We left and his car was brought round. As we waited for it he sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"I'm sorry, that was not the dinner I had in mind. I really didn't expect so many people to come over." He said, opening the door for me.

"It's okay Edward." I said softly, trying to ease his mind about how poor that actually was.

He sighed again and shook his head then started to drive me home. On our way there he asked me if I would mind making a stop for a while. I didn't so he changed route and parked outside a small Italian restaurant in a dilapidated part of town.

"I know this place doesn't look great but has the best pasta and ice cream you'll ever taste." He said, helping me out the car.

"Do you not think we're a little over dressed to go in here?" I asked as he locked his car.

"Nah…no ones in there except the owner and staff. We'll be fine." We entered the small restaurant that must have had about ten tables in total.

I opted out from eating as I was completely stuffed from our last meal but Edward ordered as he barely got to eat anything and was famished. The food came quickly and it smelt very good but I couldn't eat anymore.

"Right, this is much better. For one, no one knows me here and we won't be interrupted and second you can talk while I eat." He said, grinning as he picked up his knife and fork.

"What do you want to know?" I asked, I find it hard to talk about myself.

"Everything, anything. Whatever. Just say what you want." So I did.

We spoke about everything from music to politics, family and friends, hobbies and work, our aspirations and dreams, places we want to visit, places we've been, embarrassing things that have happened to us, and everything in between. We were there for hours just talking, laughing and getting to know one another.

Since we had been there so long we ordered ice cream and he was right, it was the best I had ever tasted, and then apologised to the owner for being here so long before leaving. I felt like I had just made a great friend. All this time we had just spent together was to get to know one another but there was so much I didn't know and wanted to get to know.

He dropped me off at my apartment and walked me to the door.

"I had amazing time tonight Bella and I was wondering if you wanted to do this again sometime."

"I'd love to." He smiled and bid me goodbye before I entered my apartment.

Alice and Rose were both asleep on the couch with an empty bottle of wine in a wine cooler and three classes on the coffee table, one untouched. They had waited for me so we could discuss what happened. This was something we did every time one of has a date and even though this wasn't a date, just dinner, they still wanted all the gossip on how it went.

Throwing a blanket over the two of them I made my way to my room, thinking about what I would tell them in the morning. After changing and getting ready for bed I thought back to how things were this evening and was exceedingly happy that Edward wanted to do it again, because I really couldn't wait now.


	4. Chapter 4: Moment of Pure Insanity

_Disclaimer: All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer_

**The Things We Do For Love**

**Chapter Four: Jasper's Moment of Pure Insanity**

_Edward's POV_

Throughout today my mind had been surrounded by thoughts of Bella and our dinner last night. She truly was amazing and now I'm more certain than ever that I want to get to know her more, at least be her friend and if she's willing start a relationship with her.

Jake was sitting on his back as I rubbed his stomach when Jasper burst through the door looking like he was in pain. He startled us both and Jake scurried off to hide in the kitchen. I raised my eyebrows at Jasper then took in his appearance. He looked like he had come straight from the 70's.

Jasper was wearing a brown and yellow leisure suit that looked atrocious. He was a walking fashion disaster and I found it painful to look at him. I had no idea what to say as he just looked so ridiculous. He groaned and pulled at his blond hair.

"Something wrong?" I asked slowly just as Emmett walked in.

"Hey, oh my god! Jazz…you look…well what can I say…bloody ridiculous." He burst out laughing and collapsed back against the door.

"I don't know what's wrong with me!" Jasper whined, falling to his knees.

"Walk us through what happened." I said as Emmett's booming laugh calmed down at the door.

"I was out shopping for a suit to wear to the fundraiser auction for the new hospital unit and everything's going well. I was admiring a pair of slacks then a woman came over to see if I needed help, when I looked up, past her, I saw…an angel." He sighed and shook his head.

"I asked the woman who came over who she was and was told that the girl I seemed interested in was a personal shopper and only helped fashion disasters. But I just had to talk to her." He groaned. "I couldn't, I wasn't a fashion disaster in my jeans and black shirt, I looked fine. So I did the only thing I thought possible."

"And that's how you ended up like this?" I motioned to his outfit.

"Yeah. I went to the closest charity shop and found this then I went back to the store. As I was making my way over to the area she was previously in someone's small arm entwined in mine and led me in another direction. Her name is Alice Brandon and she's amazing."

"She came over to get me as I looked so bad. I'm the worst she's ever seen and I go back to her tomorrow." He said blissfully, smiling brightly.

"Eh…Jazz I hate to burst your bubble but you're lying to her." Emmett pointed out. "You told me that was wrong."

"I'm not lying, how am I lying?"

"You lied to her by letting her think you actually dress that badly."

"He actually has a point." I said nodding. "And to quote what you said to me 'why couldn't you have just asked her out like a normal person?'" Emmett snorted when Jasper shot us a nasty glare.

"I just couldn't. I get it now, all these crazy things we're doing, and for what? A chance with our perfect girl." He sighed and lay down on the floor.

"Well it looks like he finally found his girl." Emmet muttered to me as Jake went to comfort Jazz by snuggling up to his side.

Either we all had just gone completely crazy and embarked on a shaky friendship filled with half truths and lies to be with someone we are convinced is right for us or we had just made a major mistake by keeping the whole truth from them. I guess only time will tell.

_Bella's POV_

I was sitting in the kitchen waiting for m dinner to be ready when Rose and Alice bounced in the door together smiling. I raised my eyebrows at them and they planted themselves on the other stools before telling me what was going on.

"I had such an amazing day at work." Alice began. "The morning was boring but then things got better. I was watching people come in the store, waiting for a fashion disaster then bam, he walked in. This guy had to be the worst dressed person I've ever dealt with, all 70's gear that looked foul. Anyway I escorted him over to my section and told him that he looked bad and then began on giving him clothes to try on. In a pair of slacks and a shirt he's gorgeous. I'm seeing him again sometime this week and I can't wait, he's so nice and sweet. I just want to hug him the whole time." She said blissfully.

"Okay, but do you know anything about him?"

"His name's Jasper Whitlock and he's beautiful." I nodded, thinking Alice was mad that she seemed so obsessed over this one guy.

"Rose?"

"Mmmm."

"You came in smiling too, any reason why?" She smiled and nodded.

"On Monday night I met a guy…but things are complicated." She frowned and looked at the counter. "He's in my mechanics class so even if by a fluke that he likes me too I can't do anything about it."

"What's he like?" I asked, trying to get her to forget about the trouble she'd get in if that scenario played out.

"He's a big guy but so sweet and funny. You'd think he'd be mean and horrible by looking at him but he's a big kid at heart."

"What's his name?" Alice asked, removing dinner from the oven.

"Emmett."

"Well who knows Rose maybe things can work out. I guess we all just need a little faith. I mean Bella can't exactly date Edward, he's her employer, I can't date Jasper, he's my employer and you can't date Emmett as you're his teacher. But I do think things will work out. In fact I'm sure things will work out, we just have to wait patiently." Alice said boldly.

I wasn't so sure but know not to doubt her when it came to things like this. She always had a great knack of knowing and it would be foolish to stop trusting her now.

The next morning I was up bright and early so I could make it on time to pick up the dogs. These stupid crutches were slowing me down but I could do it if I tried really hard. Rose was working at the university building that morning so dropped me off on her way there.

I went to get Mrs Gardner's Chihuahuas first, only to discover that she didn't need me today as her sister was in town and she wanted to show her them. I was a little pissed that she didn't call and tell me before hand but brushed it off as I made my way up to the penthouse to pick up Jake.

Having knocked on the door several times I began to think Edward wasn't here but then the door burst opened. I inhaled sharply as Edward stood before me in nothing but a towel and water dripping down his glistening body.

"I'm sorry, I was in the shower. Come in, Jake's about the place, I'll be with you in a minute." He said letting me in and rushing into the bedroom.

Jake came forward, dragging a huge bone with him and wagged his tail excitedly. I bent down with some difficulty on the crutches and gave him a pat. He seemed to be getting bigger and quickly, I'll have to ask Edward how big he thinks he'll be, I certainly can't deal with another Great Dane when I'm healed. A few minutes later Edward came in apologising for earlier as he got Jake's leash and attached him to it.

"I'm sorry about that; things have been a little chaotic this morning. How have you been?"

"Everything's fine."

"And your ankle."

"It's doing great." He nodded and picked a few things up off the counter.

"I was wondering…maybe…if you would be willing to join me for dinner again sometime when you're free." He asked shyly which made him look adorable.

"Yeah I'd like that." He smiled crookedly at me and seemed relieved.

"Shall I call you to set it up?"

"That would be great." He nodded and helped me to the door with Jake.

We both left his apartment and headed down to the main street with Jake trotting at our heels. We said our goodbyes and tried to head in separate directions but Jake wasn't having any of it. He was whining and whining for Edward to come back.

"What's wrong buddy? You'll be fine, I'll see you later." He said to him, stroking his fur. But as Edward went to walk away again the whining started up. Edward chuckled and shook his head. "I'm sorry about this he's never been like this. I don't know what to do."

"Don't worry about it, I'll try and take him that way so you can go to work." I said as I moved Jake along. The whining stopped but was replaced by frantic barking and tugging of the leash. "Jake, come on, please." I pleaded with him. I was barely ten steps away when Edward called my name and jogged over to me.

"This is probably really inconvenient but what are you doing today?"

"Nothing, I was going to take Jake out but he seems to be having some difficulty." Edward smiled and nodded.

"Would you mind coming to my office with him. He doesn't want to leave me but I can't watch him. At least there you can still do your job but also have a place to sit etc. Could you do that?"

"Yeah that would be no problem."

"Thanks." He said sincerely as we made our way towards his office.

When he told me that he was a plastic surgeon at our dinner I didn't think much of it but seeing his clinic just enforced how much income he probably makes. It was luxurious and exceedingly fancy. Edward led us past security and to his office which had a modern theme to it and worked beautifully with the whole perfect image he was trying to sell.

"I'm going into surgery in a few minutes but if you need anything there is a staff room down the hall, the door is labelled so you should see it, or you can hit the intercom on the desk and my secretary will bring you something." He thanked me again then left as Jake settled on his couch.

Noticing the book case in the corner I went over to see what he had to read, Jake was going to sleep so I needed something to do. Most were medical books but behind a few encyclopaedias were some regular novel and surprisingly a copy of Pride and Prejudice. Edward probably wouldn't be back for a while so I took it out and sat down next to Jake.

"Bella?" Someone was murmuring as I stretched across something incredibly comfortable.

"Hmm?" I opened my eyes and was met with his beautiful emerald eyes. "Oh god I'm sorry." I said, realising I had fallen asleep. Edward chuckled and sat behind his desk.

"It's alright, I don't mind." He smiled. "Would you like some lunch?" I glanced to the clock on the wall and was surprised that it was quarter to one. I must have been asleep for ages.

"If that's okay."

"Of course its okay, you have to eat." He led me down the corridor into the staff room, with Jake running in front of us.

He cooked me some chicken with vegetables and we ate together. It took us a few minutes before we were chatting away again. He was telling me about all the different things they do at the surgery and a few of the charity organisations before an older blond gentleman walked in.

"Hey Edward I came by to tell you that you need to get something for your mother's birthday next week." Edward nodded then the guy spotted me and smiled. "Hi, I'm Carlisle Cullen, Edward's father."

"Sorry, dad this is Bella Swan, Bella this is Carlisle." Edward said.

"Ah so this is Bella?" Carlisle asked, I turned to Edward who was blushing slightly and frowning. "I've heard a lot about you and this little chap." He said pointing at Jake who was lapping up the attention.

"I do hope that you'll come next week with Edward to the party-"

"Eh dad…" Edward shook his head and sighed.

"Oh, sorry. I'm going to go I've delivered my message. It was nice to meet you, Bella." Then with that he left. I spun round in the chair to see Edward with his head in his hands.

"I…sorry about that…he's…I was wondering if you would go with me, you don't have to I just wanted to ask." He said shyly.

"Yeah that would be nice. Thanks." He nodded and seemed relieved. "What did you tell them about me?" I asked curiously.

"Eh...just that you walk Jake and then were in an accident and that I took you to dinner and I think…I think that we might be becoming friends."

"Yeah, I think we are becoming friends." I agreed.

It was good to know that he thought we were becoming friends' aswell. At least that was something, though I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to ignore the quickening of my heart whenever he smiles at me or is around.

A.N.

The homepage link on my profile leads to photos to do with this story if you want to check them out.


	5. Chapter 5: Purchase Me

_Disclaimer: All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer_

**The Things We Do For Love**

**Chapter Five: Purchase Me**

_Edward's POV_

Jasper, Emmett and I were all gathered around in my living room eating pizza; it was sort of a get together to discuss the foolish things we were doing for the girls in our lives. So far, this week Emmett had attended all of Rose's classes and was acting like he had no idea what was going on so she would spend more time with him.

Jasper continued to wear his 70's gear and look like a fashion disaster every time we saw him. Even though Alice was providing him with everything he needed to wear he still wouldn't put any of it on just so he could continue to talk to her. He was spending an obscenely large amount of money on clothes, and then donating them all the homeless shelters. I've never seen better dressed tramps in all my life. He's donated so much that the shelter is putting a plaque up in his honor.

Then there's Bella and me. Jake has been magnificent and refused to let Bella take him far from me, which meant we've spent every lunch together this week. To make things even better, we are having dinner again this week at my favorite Italian place. The only big difference is Jake's size. He's sprouted up and is now looking more like his full size than the adventurous puppy that he is. The majority of the time he's well behaved but recently he's been causing a bit of chaos. He keeps running off with my shoes or ties and is chewing holes in the pillows on the couch.

"What are we going to do when these girls find out we all lied?" I asked as Emmett finished off a pizza.

"Maybe it won't come to that." He said optimistically.

"Nah, it will. It has to, otherwise Alice is just going to be my personal shopper, Bella will just be Edward's dog walker and Rose will just be your teacher. If we want to take things further with them we have to end this charade."

"But why? I'm enjoying myself." Emmett protested.

"Well I didn't say it had to end anytime soon, just that eventually it will and they will know the truth. Let's just pray that they take it well." Jasper said, taking a sip of beer.

"Will they be annoyed?" I questioned.

"I would hope not, but they might get angry that we didn't just ask them out in the first place."

"They would have said no." Emmett pointed out.

"We don't know that for sure though and there's no way for us to find that out anymore as that ship has already sailed." Jazz said.

He was constantly right throughout all of this. It was a foolish way to get to know them but I think none of us would have without acting like an idiot to get them to talk to us.

To be honest, I was surprised when Jasper said he met a girl and was even more surprised to find that he was willing to change his whole wardrobe just to have her talk to him. Jasper was always shy and never one to make bold moves. Usually he dated girls who were like him, but Alice seems to be the complete opposite. From what I've heard of her she is bubbly, charismatic, always cheerful and full of life. So it's a real contrast to his usual type.

I wasn't surprised, however, by Emmett's choice. From the sounds of it, Rose is stunning; exactly the kind of girl Emmett goes for. He's not shallow though; yes he likes to date beautiful women but he usually won't be so committed to them if they have no personality or just don't capture his interest. That's why Rose is such a hit; she's into cars, just like him.

With Bella and me, things are a bit different. I don't know what she likes; all I know is that I like her. We got to know each other over dinner and we did have the same interests in books and music but apart from that I don't know what makes her smile, laugh, cry etc.

I guess there's always going to be more time to get to know Bella, it's just I don't think I'll get to know her the way I want to when we're just friends. Of course with us being friends I have to hide and ignore my physical attraction to her. Most of the time when I see her I just want to kiss her and hold her in my arms. But, so I don't come over as a lustful jerk, I have to keep those feelings at bay. I doubt Bella would appreciate me crossing that line, especially since I'm also her employer.

In the mean time there are two events that Bella and I could go to and then from there see how things pan out between us. She has already agreed to come with me to my mother's birthday party but I also want to invite her to the hospital fundraiser auction.

Jasper has already convinced Alice to go, as she wants to see her 'masterpiece' wearing proper clothes for a change. Emmett's upset that he can't invite Rose, but we tried to get him to cheer up. Jasper asked Alice to bring a friend along so we're hoping that she will be enough to capture Emmett's attention for just one night.

The only problem I have now is when do I ask Bella? I don't really want to just randomly blurt it out but I can't seem to think of any proper time to ask. There is nothing I can talk about to lead up to asking either which means random is the only approach I have. Basically, I'm nervous she'll say no, no matter what.

With that somewhat settled I now have to ask Bella as the fundraiser is in a few days and I want to ask her to find out if she's free, instead of hearing she's already made plans and I was too late.

The following morning when Bella came over to take Jake he was more than willing to go and showed no resistance when having to leave me. Therefore, I had to wait until after work to ask her. Bella and Jake came into the practice at five thirty, but unfortunately, Bella had to go quickly so I literally spat my question at her as she hobbled away on her crutches.

"Will you attend a hospital fundraiser with me this Saturday?" I asked frantically before she left. Slowly she turned round and looked at me smiling.

"What?" I coughed nervously before answering.

"I was wondering if you would go with me to this hospital fundraiser I have to attend on Saturday night."

"Sure. I'd love to go."

"Thanks, I'll let you go now." She smiled before turning round and leaving.

I had no idea what I was worried about. If I knew it was going to be that easy I would have asked her sooner. Though I didn't word it exactly how I would like to have. I would have preferred to ask her to go as my date but I guess that friends first is the better approach for now.

On the night of the fundraiser I met Bella at the hotel where the event was taking place. She looked gorgeous in a black dress that accented her waist and hips. I was mesmerized seeing her, but quickly regained my composure to greet her as we entered the ballroom.

Emmett and Jasper were running late but would arrive soon since Emmett started stropping that he wouldn't see Rose and how he no longer wanted to go. But he had no choice in the matter; we were the three main doctors hosting this event therefore it is adamant that we attend.

Bella and I spent an hour enjoying the party, in which time I hadn't seen Emmett or Jasper one. Then the announcer called for everyone's attention, about to unleash my nightmare upon me.

"Ladies and gentlemen, if you would like to take your seats at your tables we will begin the auctions. Up first we will have the doctor auction then move on to the item auction for the evening before being served dinner."

"What's the doctor auction?" Bella asked as we took our seats.

"It's basically a human auction. You bid on which doctor you want to go on a date with. The money goes to the hospital and the doctor goes on the date." I looked behind Bella briefly to see someone waving at me. Slowly I raised my hand and waved back.

"Who's that?" She asked after I received a flirty wink.

"One of my frequent patients, Lauren Mallory. She specifically asks for me. Oh God, she's not meant to be here." I moaned, putting my head in my hands.

"Why, what's wrong with her?"

"She's made it very clear over the past few years that she thinks we should be a couple, but I just can't seem to get her to understand I don't want to sleep with her, let alone date her. I've seen enough of her body to last me a lifetime." I shuddered at the recent exam I had to give on her as Bella laughed.

"So what are you going to do tonight? Clearly she's going to bid for you and I doubt from the look in her eye that she'll let anyone else walk away with a date with you."

"I never even thought of that. You have to help me." I pleaded.

"Whoa Edward, sorry but I don't think I'd have enough money ever, to out bid her." Bella explained.

"No worries - use my money." At this moment I'd do anything to make sure Lauren doesn't buy me.

"What?! No I can't."

"Yes, you can. It's easy. You out bid her with my money and everyone's happy except her. The money goes to the hospital and I don't have to endure a painful date out."

"So basically you would be buying yourself?"

"Technically, yes, but you would be making the purchase."

"And the date?" She questioned.

"We'd go on it." I didn't quite get the look I wanted so explained. "To make the charade look real."

"Okay." She agreed.

"Thank God. Here." I handed her my wallet as the speaker asked all those involved to head to the stage. On my way I met Emmett and Jasper looked rather pleased with themselves.

"Where have you two been? I thought you weren't going to show."

"I've been at the bar. Can you believe this Eddie, Rose is here!" Emmett proclaimed.

"How'd that happen?" I asked.

"No idea. She was at the bar when I arrived so hell, I was off." Jasper rolled his eyes.

"And how's things with Alice?" Jasper smiled blissfully and nodded, indicating all was well. He's so in love I don't think he even realizes it. I smiled back and looked at Emmett who was smiling at this tall blonde making her way over to the tables. Whether we all noticed it or not, we were all in way over our heads with these girls.

_Bella's POV_

Edward walked off, leaving his wallet on the table just before Alice plopped down in the seat next to me with a glass of wine.

"How's everything with hot doc?" She asked, looking at the stage with a glint in her eyes. I found out just before I left to meet Edward here that Rose and Alice were also attending this tonight. Alice was going to make sure her client wore the appropriate clothing and Rose was here as he asked Alice to bring a friend.

"Edward-" I stressed. "-is fine, though he's worried the plastic blonde on the table behind up is going to win him in the auction." Alice turned round, had a look then nodded smiling.

"I see why; if I didn't know better I'd think she's a living Barbie."

"There you two are! Guess who I met? Oh Alice, sorry I ditched you but I had a great reason." Rose said, sitting on the other side of me as we faced the stage.

"It's alright; Jasper went and got me a drink anyway."

"So who did you meet?" I asked Rose as she looked stunned towards the stage.

"Emmett."

"The really bad mechanic student you teach?"

"Yeah, he never said he was a doctor!" She slumped back in her chair and took a big gulp of wine. I followed her eyes to the stage to see a burly guy with his back to us talking to Edward.

"You're guys a doc too, so is Jasper." Alice beamed. "Well we've certainly caught some nice guys." I nodded, watching Edward as he ran his hand through his hair and spoke to the other gentlemen on stage.

When I entered the hotel tonight I was completely lost in him. He looked fantastic in a tux and I was weak at the knees when he smiled. How on earth I got to go to an event like this with a man like that, I'll never know. Though I continually thank God for this blessing.

The announcer called everyone's attention then began with the auction for the doctors. Edward was quite a bit down the line so I had some time to waste. Glancing at the other doctors I noticed that they ranged in age and size. Some were exceedingly old, looking about eighty, and others were young, fresh out of med school.

"Next up we have Dr. Jasper Whitlock. He graduated in the top three at his medical class in Cambridge University. He is a plastic surgeon and pro bono surgeon at Cullen Medical Practice, is a key donator at the local homeless shelters, and has an interest in the Civil War and history. We'll start the bidding at 500." The announcer stated.

"That's my Jazz. Isn't he gorgeous in that tux? He wanted a waist coat so I go that one custom made for him." Alice beamed, smiling at him intently. She was smitten, that was for sure.

Gradually the bids rose and Jasper was sold to an elderly woman for 5630. Apparently her daughter was the one going to on the date, not her. Suddenly Rose sat up straight and sent one of her seductive smiles to the stage; I guess the big guy is her Emmett.

"Here we have Dr. Emmett McCarty. He graduated in the top ten of his medical class at Cambridge University. Is another plastic surgeon and works at Cullen Medical Practice. He is an avid car collector and an interested mechanic. He has a love for puppies and food. Bidding will start at 500."

"God he's cute." Rose said dreamily. "He has to show me his cars someday." She had practically found her perfect man; if he liked cars and mechanics then he was definitely in there with a chance. It also helped that he was so huge; Rose always had a soft spot for bigger guys that looked more like a bear than a human. Emmett was bought for 4970

Then it was Edward's turn, and I swear about seventy percent of the women in the room sat up straighter in their seats. Carefully I grabbed Edward's wallet and held it in my lap, waiting for my moment to out bid Lauren.

"Up now we have Dr. Edward Cullen, owner of Cullen Medical Practice, graduated top of his class at Cambridge, has frequently been honored for his contributions to the medical community over the years, has opened fifteen new hospital wings in the last two years and has found enough funding to keep them running for the next ten years, is an avid reader and loves music, can sing and play the piano, has a puppy who he loves called Jake, and is a devoted to helping others. The bidding will start at 2000."

Just like that the bids were flying in from all sides of the room. Rose, Alice and I were looking at each other like the whole place had gone crazy. Clearly we were at a party with some of the richest folk around as it was just one date they were buying and already the bids were up 9000.

"Twenty thousand dollars!" Someone called from the behind me. Majority of the room quieted down and looked; it was Lauren, and no one else seemed willing to bid so I had to get in my bid.

"Twenty one thousand." I called, Rose and Alice gasped.

"Bella what the hell are you doing, you do not have that kind of money!"

"I know, I'm not spending my money I'm spending his. Edward doesn't want to be bought by Lauren so he asked me to out bid her no matter what."

"Twenty five thousand." Lauren declared, most of the room was looking at me now, so was Edward with hope in his eyes. He had his hand on his slacks and indicated up five so I could see it against the black.

"Thirty thousand." Lauren gasped but quickly recovered.

"Forty!" She cried. Edward nodded again but I was slowly losing my cool.

"Forty Five." There were even more murmurs going round the room now.

"Forty nine!"

"Fifty." I replied meekly. The room turned to Lauren but she angrily shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Alright then, going once, going twice, gone for fifty thousand dollars!" The announcer called as everyone started applauding.

Several minutes passed before Edward was back by my side and leading me out to the terrace.

"Thank you so much." He said quietly.

"I'm sorry you cost so much." I mumbled. He chuckled but hugged me.

"Its fine, I can afford it, I was going to make a large donation anyway so you just helped me out." I bit my lip nervously.

"You sure?"

"Absolutely. So when do you want to go on this date?" My heart quickened and my mouth went dry.

"I…eh…em." I coughed then tried again to form some words. "Whenever you're free, if you want to go that is."

"Oh, I definitely want to go." He kissed my cheek and led me back inside with his arm around my waist.

We were officially going on a date now, not just dinner. The nervous schoolgirl in me screamed happily but I kept my cool composure by just smiling throughout the rest of the night.

A.N.

Thanks to bronzehairedgirl620 for beta-ing this.


	6. Chapter 6: Worth Every Penny

_Disclaimer: All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer._

**The Things We Do For Love**

**Chapter Six: Worth Every Penny**

_Bella's POV_

It was a date, an official date. Edward was taking me on a date and it was nervous as hell.

All week I had been trying to get the details about what we would be doing together on Saturday but he refused to tell me. I received one hint though: he'd be by early. Now thinking back on this I thought he meant maybe four or five at night but no, he rang my doorbell at six thirty in the morning!

"Who the hell is that?" I heard Rose screech, stomping out of her room. Alice's door opened just after and she made her way out too.

"I've got the bat." She called. I was then up and out my bed in seconds, following them to the door.

Rose opened the door fully as Alice stood back, getting ready to hit who ever it was. The second I saw those familiar green eyes wide in shock I called out no.

"Its just Edward." I said as he relaxed but still eyeing the bat in Alice's hands.

"So? It's six thirty!" Rose protested. I pulled Edward into the apartment then Alice and Rose went back to their rooms, leaving us standing alone in the dark.

"I forgot you had roommates." Edward said apologetically. "Sorry."

"It's alright, but what are you doing here?" I asked as I remembered I was wearing exceedingly small shorts and a tank top that was too big.

"I'm here for our date."

"Are you not roughly twelve hours early?"

"No, I told you I'd be arriving early." He said as his eyes slowly took in my appearance.

"Yeah but I didn't think you meant this early."

"Oh, sorry." He said softly.

"It's okay. So what are we going to be doing so I can go get ready?" He perked up and smiled.

"Put on your running gear." My face must have shown my horror as he started laughing. "I promise Bella, you'll enjoy this."

Luckily for me my crutches were no longer needed and I had been back to regular walking as of four days ago. Everything was fine so I was back to normal; I was just taking a few precautions every now and then to make sure I didn't hurt myself again.

I hesitantly walked back into my bedroom and pulled my hair back into a ponytail before changing my clothes. Within ten minutes I was back in my kitchen with Edward.

"Ready?" He asked, looking at my change of clothes.

"As I'll ever be."

"Great." He smiled and I thought maybe this wouldn't be as bad as I thought it would be.

Edward led us down to his car then opened my door for me. He took us on a ten minute drive and with the time it took me to get ready it was six forty five by the time we arrived.

"Let's go." He said, starting to jog slowly after locking his car.

I jogged next to Edward, but unlike him I had my eyes glued to my feet, making sure I didn't trip, rather than on the open, empty road ahead of us. We were out the city, in some sort of wooded area. It was still dark out and there was mist on the road ahead. The air was cool as it blew past my face and I could feel the dampness around me. The only noise was Edward and my footsteps on the tarmac and our levelled breathing.

I was surprisingly relaxed and was rather enjoying this run, though if someone said this is what I would be doing on a date with Edward I would have laughed. From the time we went to dinner the first time I assumed it would be something like that.

Glancing to my side I took in Edward. His lips were slightly parted, there was a light pink tinge to his cheeks from the cold, his eyes were their beautiful green like the forest surrounding us, and he had this content look to his face.

"What is it?" Edward asked, breaking me from my thought of him.

"Pardon?"

"You were staring at me." I blushed but shook my head.

"I wasn't meaning to." He shrugged and we continued like nothing happened. A few minutes late I caught him staring at me.

"What?" I asked self-consciously.

"Nothing."

"You were staring." I said as he smirked.

"I wasn't meaning to." He quoted, that smirk growing into a smile.

"Fine, I was staring at you. Now tell me why you were staring at me?"

"I was just looking. So did you like what you saw?" He asked and shot me a playful look.

"Maybe." I shrugged. I wasn't really up for telling him how much I enjoyed what I saw.

"Well I certainly enjoyed what I saw. Now that I've been honest, how about you?" He said almost charmingly. Almost.

"Yes." I answered while turning my head away and blushing, though I did catch him grinning in satisfaction. Deciding I'd had enough of his heart stopping smiles for now I picked up my speed and gradually took over him.

"Do you really want to play this game?" He asked playfully, catching up to me.

"Of course, unless you don't think you can keep up." I called confidently.

From there we raced each other until it felt like our lungs were going to collapse. Edward beat me, obviously, but it was fun to try and win against him. By the time we stopped, both of us were leaning against a tree panting and laughing.

"That was fun; we should do it more often." He said as I caught my breath.

"I don't know if I physically could, my legs are killing me and it feels like my muscles are burning." He smiled and held out his hand for me to take so we could walk back together. Once we made it back to his car Edward let me in and we drove back to my house.

"Thanks Edward, I had a nice time. I guess I'll see you on Monday." I said, about to get out.

"Wait Bella, did you really think this was all we were going to do on our date?"

"Well yeah." I answered honestly. He smiled softly and shook his head.

"I did have more in mind, if you're up for it?"

"Sure."

"How about you go have a shower, get ready and I'll pick you up in an hour and a half for lunch?"

"Great. I'll see you then." Edward smiled and nodded before I got out.

Exactly an hour and a half later Edward was ringing my doorbell then we were off to lunch. He drove us towards the center of the city and parked outside a residential apartment building. I frowned as I followed him into the lobby, knowing this wasn't his apartment block. We took the elevator up to the top floor then Edward led me along the hallway then up a flight of stairs. I looked out and realized we were at the roof garden overlooking the city.

"I thought we'd have lunch out here. It's not cold and the view is pretty good for this time of day." He pulled out a chair for me to sit down. Together we had a good lunch and I realized that a bigger part of me than I thought liked Edward as more than a friend and that I would be interested in taking our relationship further.

If only I didn't work for him.

"You look beautiful today." He commented, just as we finished dessert.

"Thanks." I said, blushing.

_Edward's POV_

"Bella…I…I have a few more things planned for us. If that's okay?" I wanted to tell her I liked her but I lost my nerve and couldn't do it.

Today I wanted to have a casual but friendly date. The running this morning was just to get Bella out of her comfort zone and see how she reacted. Tonight I wanted to do something special but not like the first time we went to dinner.

"That's fine with me. What's next?"

"Shopping." Bella's face dropped and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Mmmhhm." She groaned. "Edward I hate shopping."

"I gathered that. Don't worry, if you don't want to buy anything we can just window shop."

"Okay." She said but still seemed unsure.

Within an hour Bella and I were at a shopping center, browsing around the home section and were currently looking at kitchens.

"This is nice." Bella commented, looking at an old fashioned English kitchen with cream cupboards and a dark wood worktop. "If I was ever to design my perfect house, this would be in it."

"Along with what? You have the kitchen designed, what about the rest of the house?" Bella thought about it for a second then grabbed my hand and we toured the rest of the home section.

For ages we tried to coordinate what would look good and bad together. By the end of our time at the home section we had everything planned for every room and had even discussed the exterior of the house.

Moving on, we mucked about in various other stores and I never managed to convince Bella to let me buy her anything. She was completely stubborn and wasn't having any of it. I took her back to my house and we were greeted by Jake jumping all over us.

"Hey buddy. How you been?" Bella asked as she took a seat. Jake sat down at her feet and gave her his puppy eyes until she scratched behind his ears.

That afternoon Bella and I had a movie marathon with Jake and we raided my house for all the junk food. By the time we finished watching the movies it was around six forty.

"Em…now don't get mad at me but I have something for you." I told Bella as she stretched across the couch. "It's in my bedroom." She looked at me apprehensively before cautiously entering my room with Jake on her heels.

"Edward, please tell me you didn't?" I heard her ask.

"Well you see, I have tickets to for a show at the theatre tonight and we're sitting in one of the boxes."

She walked out my bedroom and smiled at me. "You didn't have to."

"I know, but I wanted to." Bella walked over and kissed me on the cheek before thanking me and then going to get changed.

I retrieved my suit from the closet in the hall where I had left it after picking it up from the dry cleaners. Nipping into the other bathroom I changed and headed back out where I was met with Bella in the blue dress I had Alice pick out for her.

Jasper said Alice was good at fashion so I described what I had in mind to her and she gave me that dress, claiming it would look perfect on Bella, which it certainly does. Although I never knew that Alice was one of Bella's roommates as I discovered this morning. I guess she would know what would look perfect on Bella since she lives with her. When she exited the bathroom, I felt my jaw drop. Bella looked so striking in the dress that my mouth went dry and I suddenly found it difficult to breathe.

"Wow." I finally got out; she blushed and I remembered my manners. "You look amazing."

"Thanks. You look good too." I smiled and led her downstairs where I had a car waiting to take us to the theatre and back at the end.

During the theatre performance I found myself watching Bella more than the show. Clearly she hadn't seen it before and her facial expressions would change rapidly throughout the performance.

"That was fantastic. Thank you." Bella said on the way back.

"It was my pleasure." I'd do anything to get her to smile like she was. "Would you like to go back to mine or should I get the driver to drop you off home instead?" Once I asked I felt like a jerk. I practically asked her to come back to mine and sleep with me, which I was not intending to do this evening. I just didn't want to say goodbye to her yet.

"A few of my things are back at yours, is there a chance I could go get them before heading home?"

"Of course." After instructing the driver we both sat back quietly and observed the lights passing by the window. My apartment was rather cold when we entered and upon going into the living room we noticed Jake spaced out across the sofa with his eyes watching us.

"Would you like a drink?" I asked as Bella made her way into my bedroom to get her clothes.

"If you don't mind." She called back.

"Not at all. What would you like?"

"Em…whatever, really." I fetched two glasses out of the cupboard and filled them with a bottle of water, waiting for Bella to come back through.

_Bella's POV_

When I walked back into the kitchen Edward was leaning against the counter with one hand touching the counter top and the other holding his glass. He looked like Adonis, standing there with 

his shirt- sleeves rolled up to his elbows, showing his muscles on his forearms, and the crooked smile he was giving me. I just about melted right there and then. The thought that he was my employer and this was wrong was out the window in seconds and I made my way over to him.

"Find everything?" He asked softly as he handed me my glass.

"Yeah, thanks. What do you want me to do with this dress? I can get changed and you could return it or-"

"Bella-" He said, cutting me off. "-it is a gift. Keep it."

"But Edward I couldn't possibly keep it. I mean-"

"Please." He said as he released the full effects of his eyes on me.

"Okay, thank you." I mumbled almost incoherently.

"You're very welcome." He smirked a bit and I had a funny feeling it was at my reaction to him. Slowly he turned and was now facing me fully. I placed my glass on the counter, not trusting myself not to drop it, and looked up at him.

"This has been the best charity auction date I've ever gone on." Edward admitted. "I'd love to do it again sometime."

"I'm afraid I don't have fifty thousand pounds to spare on another date." He chuckled and shook his head.

"You wouldn't have to buy me again. I'm asking for real this time. Go out with me?" He looked so shy and nervous when he asked I had an urge to kiss him but decided against it and nodded instead, refusing to speak as I was worried what might come out.

When I nodded he broke into my favorite crooked smile then softly placed one hand on my cheek, looking at me as though he could see straight into my soul.

"Would it be totally inappropriate to kiss you?" He whispered.

"Not at all." I managed before his lips brushed against mine.

The first kiss was so light it didn't feel like a kiss at all, and when Edward went to pull back for good I wasn't having any of it. I wrapped my arms round his neck and kissed him passionately, just like I had dreamed of several times. He took a second or so to respond but then did with a whole new level of intensity and passion.

"Bella, we need to stop." He got out while he was kissing my neck. "If we don't you won't be leaving here tonight and I know we're not ready for that step yet." He pulled back, looked at me apologetically and kissed me once on the lips.

"It's okay Edward, I understand. And thanks for not taking advantage of me." I said as I grabbed my things.

"I would never dream of taking advantage of you." He walked me down to the lobby and waited with me until the car pulled up outside to take me home.

"Call me?" I asked, kissing him on the cheek.

"Most definitely." He smiled and helped me get into the car before shutting the door.

This entire day with Edward surely has been something else, probably one of the best dates ever. It was definitely worth his fifty thousand pounds.

A.N.

Thanks to bronzehairedgirl620 for beta reading this.


	7. Chapter 7: My Drug

_Disclaimer: All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer._

**The Things We Do For Love**

**Chapter Seven: My Drug**

_Bella__'__s POV_

"How was it?!" Alice called once I entered the apartment.

"Amazing." I murmured, locking the door behind me and sitting down with them on the couch. Rose muted the television and turned to me, waiting along with Alice for details.

"We went running this morning and surprisingly it was quite fun, I didn't fall once. Then I came back here, got ready then we went to lunch. He arranged for us to have lunch on a rooftop garden together overlooking the city. After that we went shopping." Alice's eyes went wide.

"He got you to go shopping?!"

"You must really like him." Rose commented.

"We never bought anything, just wandered round the home section deciding what was nice or not." Alice pouted but let me continue. "We went back to his and had a movie marathon then he gave me a dress and shoes to wear to the theatre. It was the best date I've ever had."

"He's so sweet." I could tell from the look in Alice's eyes that if I didn't stop her she would be picking out china patterns in her head. Luckily Rose cut in first.

"Did you guys kiss?" That wasn't really the help I was looking for.

"Em…yeah." I could feel the blush on my cheeks as Alice squealed.

"Any good?" Rose raised her eyebrows.

"Oh yeah." They giggled while I tried to hide my face in my hands.

"So when do you see him again?"

"Monday, when I go to pick up Jake." I answered.

"Is that not going to be awkward? I mean, you still working for him?" Alice asked frowning.

"Maybe…I don't know. I guess I'll just have to wait and see."

So by Monday morning I was nervous as hell and worried how things would now be between us. Turns out I wasn't the only one. When Edward opened the door he looked worried but also gave me a reassuring smile.

"Hi." He kissed my cheek and let me in.

"Hey, I missed you. How was the rest of your weekend?"

"Bland compared to Saturday." He smirked and kissed me again as I caught Jake dashing over to the couch when he didn't get the attention he wanted. I would have given it to him if Edward's lips hadn't been distracting me.

"You know what we should do?" He whispered, kissing down my jaw. Jake was now destroying the plants by pulling them out of the pots, roots and all, putting mud all over the floor and rolling in it.

"Em…Edward you might want to-"

"We should stay here the whole day." He gazed back into my eyes so I could no longer see what Jake was doing.

"I can't and either can you." I kissed him softly before smiling. "We have work."

"This could be work." He suggested, pulling me to him again.

"How?"

"You still have a bad ankle and need a doctor around at all times. Hence why you're not leaving." I laughed at his attempts but shook my head.

"I don't think so." He pouted and I just rolled her eyes. "I'll see you after work?"

"Yes." I nodded, kissed him and then gathered Jake who had ruined the plants, leaving mud all over the carpet, which Edward was just noticing.

Work passed slowly; I bathed Jake and he loved it, walked the dogs and did the usual with them all. After dropping the rest of them off I headed back to Edward's apartment. He was smiling sinfully and pulled me into his embrace before I could say anything. His lips were on mine and his hands were running up and down my arms, making me feel light headed with all the physical contact.

"How about I make you dinner?" I suggested as his eyes glazed over.

"I'll help." Though really he was the biggest distraction ever. He was all over me, holding me, kissing me, caressing me as I tried to cook while resisting the urge to throw down the utensils and lead him back to his bedroom.

The minute the food was in the oven it was a free for all then. His hands were in my hair, trying to remove my top as mine were caressing his chest underneath his shirt, also trying to get it off. We were interrupted by loud barking from Jake.

"I guess that's our cue to stop." I mumbled. He nodded but seemed resistant.

We had dinner and chatted about his work and other random things going on. I could see myself doing this more often, having dinner with Edward, being in his apartment, and enjoying his company.

"I was wondering if you would come with me tomorrow for lunch." Edward asked nervously.

"I would love to." I smiled.

"Great, we would be meeting my parents. I know you've already met my father but we would be meeting my mother too. I just wanted you to get to know them a bit better before my mother's birthday party this weekend."

Although the thought of me meeting both of his parents together was terrifying, I was really happy that he wanted me to meet them. Hopefully that was a sign that he cared a lot for me as I knew now that I was falling for him more and more everyday I'm with him.

This may be good, but it's also a complication I wasn't bargaining on when I agreed to look after his puppy the day he asked. I'm his employee; I walk his dog and this is unprofessional. If any of my other clients found out it wouldn't be very good at all. At the moment I'm dancing around on a dangerous line.

The following day at noon Edward and I arrived at a beautiful house located just outside the city. It was classically built and looked as though it dated back to the Georgian period. My guess would be from its beauty and size that it was a listed building and could not be altered in any way. Edward parked his Volvo in the drive and opened the door for me to get out.

"Thanks." I said, smiling at him.

Two people walked out of the door with smiles on their faces. I already recognised at Carlisle, Edward's father, so that meant that the beautiful woman next to him was his wife Esme. Edward's beauty all made sense if these were his parents. They both looked younger than I expected and I did wonder how old they were when they had Edward. If they had him when they were very young they did an exceptional job adapting to parenthood.

"Mom, Dad, this is Bella. Bella, this is my mother Esme and my father Carlisle, who you already know." Edward introduced us.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you Bella." Esme greeted, hugging me softly. "I've heard so much about you from Edward that I feel like I already know you." I glanced at Edward and noticed a tiny blush on his cheeks; if his parents weren't standing in front of me I totally would have kissed his adorable face.

"Please come in." Carlisle said, indicating through the front door.

The house was even more beautiful on the inside and the decorator was very gifted. It had all the old features of the Georgian house but was mixed so well with modern features; it looked amazing. Each room had its own striking feature, the fireplace in one, the original wooden floor in another, the grand staircase, the original windows letting in lots of light, and all the small details along each ceiling cornice.

The dining room was set up elegantly with a lovely flower centrepiece in the middle, not too big and vibrant to overshadow everything but noticeable enough to admire it. The smells coming from the kitchen hit me the second I entered the hall and my mouth immediately began to water.

"Lunch will just be served; I'll plate it up now." Esme said, smiling at us.

"Do you need any help?" I asked.

"Oh no, do not worry. We have it all in hand." Carlisle nodded and they both went into the kitchen. Edward walked us through and stood us in the middle of the living room floor.

"They like you." He said, caressing my cheek.

"How do you know?" I bit my lip nervously.

"I know. They like you like I knew they would. Who could not like you?" He kissed my forehead and smiled at me, making me forget all my thoughts. "Thank you for coming today."

"No problem."

"I'm really glad that you have met them even though I know you would have met them this Saturday I just wanted them to get to know the Bella I know." He kissed my lips again and brushed some hair out of my face. "You really are amazing." I blushed but still rolled my eyes.

"You're crazy." I mumbled.

"Crazy on you. You are my drug and I am very addicted." He whispered, his lips trailing my neck.

"Your parents are in the next room." I reminded him as he kissed my jaw and neck gently, every so often flicking his tongue out across my skin.

"They won't mind."

"But I will." He kissed me one last time and looked at me - and I mean he really looked at me. He was taking me in, gazing deep into my eyes that I suddenly felt revealed and self conscious in front of him. It was as though he was looking at me, all of me, my flaws, my mistakes, my problems. But then he smiled and it seemed as though he didn't care.

I was most likely over-thinking this but come on; I'm having lunch at his parent's house after we have gone on one date. He must like me a little, if not a lot. What other reason would he have for bringing me here and letting me get to know his family, and them to know me?

Carlisle walked through, carrying four plates so Edward and I quickly sat down. He returned to the kitchen just as Esme was bringing out the dishes of food. Carlisle followed with another dish and a bottle of wine.

Once we were all sitting we helped ourselves to the food, which tasted amazing, as Carlisle poured us some wine. Edward agreed not to have any since he was driving but insisted I should have some and shouldn't worry about it. I kinda felt bad that he was not drinking because he had to drive me back home but he quickly cast those thoughts away with his mesmerising emerald eyes that held mine for a second.

Lunch was filled with light conversation and gave us a chance to get to know each other better. Esme and Carlisle held nothing back when they informed me about Edward as a child. He sounded so cute with him old fashioned ways, polite manners and a temper to boot. He wasn't an angry child but could lose his temper when he got protective of someone or something.

I was told how he was gifted at the piano and singing since he was three and that made me want to hear him sing, but he refused. 'Finally being modest,' according to Carlisle. The relationship between Edward and his parents was a sight in itself. The adoration he held for them was evident in his eyes and they returned the looks for their son.

They looked like the perfect family in some way and my stomach did a flip, thinking if I ever had to introduce Edward to my parents, one who lives by himself and has never quite gotten over the divorce and the other who has more hobbies than imaginable and was always more like the child than the adult when I was growing up. Maybe things wouldn't come to that and Edward wouldn't have to meet them.

Edward and his father cleared the dishes from the table and went to work clearing them of any left overs and placing them in the dishwasher while Esme and I got to know each other better. She truly was a lovely woman and I knew she must have been a brilliant mother to Edward.

Not long after we were leaving, Edward said a quick goodbye to his parents, telling his father he would see him sometime this week at the hospital and telling his mother he would call her later. They hugged him and said goodbye before hugging me and making me promise to come have lunch with them again.

"Well?" Edward asked on the way back in the car.

"They are amazing Edward, you are very lucky to have such wonderful parents." He smiled at me and kissed my cheek.

"Thank you. Like I said earlier, they were taken by you also."

"So when do I get to hear you sing?" I asked, changing the subject. Edward cringed and gave me a fleeting look.

"I really wish that hadn't come up."

"Well it did, so when? Apparently you're not a bad singer so what are you worried about? According to Esme you sounded like an angel."

"She's my mother, she's biased." He said. "I don't know. I'm embarrassed about it."

"Please Edward?" I begged.

"Fine, but not right now, only when I'm really ready."

"When will that be?"

"I don't know." He shrugged.

"You promise you'll let me hear you sing though?" I asked to clarify.

"I promise."

"Good." He lifted my hand and kissed each knuckle, never taking his eyes off the road.

I was in pure bliss with him. Today had been brilliant and I couldn't help but wonder why he wanted me to meet his parents, not that I minded. Like I told him they really were fantastic people and I loved lunch with them. But maybe, just maybe, this was a clue that Edward liked me a little more than I originally thought.

I could only hope.

A.N.

Thanks to bronzehairedgirl620 for beta-ing this chapter.


	8. Chapter 8: Emmett's Fault

_Disclaimer: All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer_

**The Things We Do For Love**

**Chapter Eight: Emmett's Fault**

_Edward's POV_

I love her. I am completely head over heels in love with her. It took me less than two months to fall for her but still. I knew I was serious about Bella when I took her to lunch with my parents, which would have been just under a month ago. Only the best girls get to meet my family and Bella really is the best.

She doesn't know how I feel about her completely yet, but I do plan on telling her, tonight in fact. It will be perfect. I will cook us a meal, have dinner at my place, tell her I love her, hopefully hear it back though if she doesn't that won't matter, and then just spend my time loving her fully. She's a gift from God, an angel in her own right. All I had to do was tell her that.

"She's amazing!" Emmett declared, walking into the lunch room at the practice.

"Who?" Jasper questioned.

"Rose." He smiled cheerfully. "I'm so in love with her. She is the most amazing woman I've ever met. I love her class at the University. She's the best teacher ever. I want to marry her."

"Let's not get rash, Emmett." I warned.

"I'm not. Look, tonight I'm going to ask her out."

"Do you really think that is wise?" Jasper asked. "You are still her student."

"So what? She likes me, I like her and that's that."

"Do you think she'll say yes?" I asked.

"Pfft, of course. Have you seen me?" He faked being offended then poured himself some coffee.

"Anyway, as fun as this is I have a patient waiting."Jasper excused himself.

"You won't do anything stupid now will you Emmett?" God only knows what he might do.

"Like what?"

"I don't know, something stupid."

"I won't do anything." He said, shaking his head.

I didn't believe it but I guess there is nothing I can do about what Emmett does. Hopefully everything will work out fine. My day just sped past quickly and before I knew it I was at home cooking for Bella. She was coming over in twenty minutes so I had some time to get ready.

Jake was sleeping on his mat, oblivious to my frantic nerves, and I think ignoring me entirely while I was trying to make sure I didn't burn the food, get changed, fix my dishevelled hair, and set the table.

Eventually I was prepared, washed, the table was set, the food cooked, changed and my hair was looking decent, and just on time the doorbell rang. I opened the door to Bella, who looked stunning. My mouth was dry and my thoughts were gone.

"Hey." She smiled, pulling me into a hug. I kissed her cheek and let her in. "Smells good, what are you making?"

"Duck. Hope that's okay?"

"That's sounds lovely."

I welcomed her in and gave her a glass of wine before pouring myself one. We chatted for a few minutes before she excused herself to go to the bathroom. As I was dishing the food the door flew open and Emmett came in.

"I really screwed up!" He cried.

"Whoa, okay. Walk me through it." I tried to get him to calm down.

"I asked Rose out and she said no because I was her student, so then I said that I would leave the class and she really advised me not to do that as I needed the mechanical help. Here's where I thought I was being smart. I told her the truth, that I only joined the class to get to know her and that I'm actually very good at mechanics. Then she lost it, she slapped me and went mental." He paused for breath.

"I mean, you're getting off with your dog walker who believes you had the dog for a while and didn't buy it just so you could talk to her and Jazz is swooning over Alice who thinks he needs clothes when he dresses better than us sometimes. He's only wearing that crap to talk to her too, so how come I get slapped and lose Rose?"

"Because you told the truth."

"Yeah well you're going to have to eventually."

"I know but I'd do it better than you did."

"How, you're still lying to Bella?" The floor creaked behind Emmett and we both looked over to see Bella leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, not looking happy at all.

"Eh…hi." Emmett said, shooting me a 'help me' look.

"Hi." She replied icily. I never knew Bella could be like that, cold, withdrawn and icy, but apparently she could and it was directed at me right about now.

"How long you been standing there?" I asked carefully.

"From 'I asked Rose out and she-'"

"Crap." I muttered.

"Crap indeed." Bella replied, grabbing her jacket off the couch.

"Bella, I can explain." I moved towards her.

"There is no need. Emmett did a good job for you." She shut the door behind her and I turned to Emmett, shooting him daggers.

"What?" He tried to say innocently.

"She's going to tell them."

"Tell who?" He asked confused.

"Alice and Rose." I replied.

"How does she know them?" He asked a little panicked.

"She lives with them."

"Crap."

"Yeah." I agreed.

"Look Edward, I'm sorry, I never meant for this to happen."

"You know what Emmett, just be quiet." I pinched the bridge of my nose, struggling to hold my temper.

Things shouldn't have happened like this. I should have had a chance to explain to Bella about everything. Hell tonight I was going to tell her I loved her, not have her walk out on me the way she did. I have to call her, I have to see her and explain.

"What we going to do?" Emmett asked cautiously.

"Well I'm going to try and not kill you. Let's get Jazz over here and see what he decides."

Jasper arrived within the hour and seemed very confused as to why I sounded so rattled on the phone. He took in the scene, table set, food on plates untouched, Emmett slouched on the couch and me pacing the floor while Jake watched on.

"Okay…what happened here?"

"I royally screwed things up for everyone." Emmett stated, watching me carefully.

"Oh right, what else is new?" He joked but when he noticed my state he got serious. "Whose pet did you kill?"

"I didn't kill any pet Jazz. It's not that bad." He sighed and put his arms over his chest.

"Edward?" Jasper waited for my opinion on the matter that was at hand.

"He might have cost us all the girls we love." He frowned in response then took a seat, looking at me quizzically.

"What's going on?"

"Emmett, why don't you explain?" I suggested, increasing my pace across the floor, which was probably driving the neighbors below mad but frankly I didn't care. The only person I did care about walked out and I doubt she would walk back into my life now.

Emmett explained what happened and what Bella overheard. As he was going through it Jasper's face paled and the true colossal damage, losing the love of our lives, had finally hit home.

"What are we going to do?" He asked, worried like the rest of us.

"Try and talk to them I guess. But first I say we work on what we're going to talk to them about. I really don't think they are going to buy everything. Come on, we did lie to all of them from the beginning and it's going to take some work to get their trust back." They both nodded and agreed with what I had said.

We left little time to debate over how bad things were and went to work walking through our stories, what we would say to each of them, how sorry we were about the lies and the reason why we did things that way. Jasper seemed to think Emmett would have the hardest time getting Rose to even look at him since she hates people who break her trust.

Bella knew, Rose knew, so Jasper still had time to get to Alice before they did and explain, or so we thought. He called her cell, hoping to get her to listen to him before the others called but when he got a pissed off Rose telling him not to call back we realized we were too late and that these girls were truly gone.

Though we weren't down and out yet. That was not going to happen. One way or another we would get them to listen to us and at least know why everything turned out that way. Then, if they still decided they didn't want anything to do with us we would have to accept the fact that we were clearly not destined to be with each other, which would be a low blow for all of us.

Of all the possibilities of telling Bella the truth I never thought her overhearing Emmett explaining would be the way. I would have liked to have set her down, tell her how much I loved her then gone on to say that I bought Jake to talk to her and although that seemed bad of me to do so I was so glad I did or we would never have been together. But that had all gone up in smoke.

The three of us sat around my apartment that night, looking like men without a soul. To save us from cooking we ordered pizza and beer. The TV was on but none of us were listening to it, it was purely for background noise. The only light in the room was from the TV and the kitchen light I had left on so we really looked like a bunch of losers.

But who could have high spirits after what had just happened? Certainly not me.

The three of us devised a plan to send the girls constant gifts, call them endlessly, email them, write to them, drop by their offices and do everything in our power to get them to talk to us without us getting a restraining order.

It was going to be difficult from now on out. We were all crazy about our girls and now we were without them. For starters, what's going to happen on Monday? I know for a fact that Emmett is going to go to Rose's classes, Jasper is going to go to the mall and get Alice to dress him as they had an agreement, she's signed on as his personal shopper, and Bella is meant to pick up Jake as is she is still my dog walker.

If she wasn't going to sit Jake then I would need to find someone else to do it. Deciding this was a valid reason to try and call her again I dialled Bella's cell phone number. After three rings someone picked up.

"Talk." One of the girls said, it wasn't Bella so either Alice or Rose.

"Could you ask Bella if she's still going to pick Jake up on Monday?" I said apprehensively.

"Hold on." I could hear murmurings then one of the girls came back on. "Yes she'll be there, but leave Jake in the lobby and don't try and speak to her."

"Okay, thank you." I hung up the phone a tiny bit relieved; at least I wouldn't have to bring Jake to the office as that is a serious no no.

_Bella's POV_

Alice hung up the phone and turned to me apologetically.

"Did he say anything else?" I asked.

"No." She hugged me softly. "Sorry Bella, he just wanted to know about Jake." Rose and her shared a look as I got off the floor to head to the kitchen.

The one time Edward has a chance to explain everything he wastes it on asking about Jake. Did I really mean that little to him?

A.N.

Thank you to bronzehairedgirl620 for beta reading this chapter along with the others.


	9. Chapter 9: Being Bought

**The Things We Do For Love**

**Chapter Nine: Being Bought**

_Bella's POV_

"That lying git, girls I have something important to tell you!" Rose called, entering the apartment. "Men are liars and liars are pigs."

"Oh Rose tell me it's not true?" Alice asked.

I came home completely pissed off with Edward. He had been lying to me this entire time and I felt completely betrayed. I mean if he was that good a liar then he could have been lying about everything he said to me.

Alice was home first when I arrived and I automatically vented to her. Explaining everything from how Jasper was only dressing bad so she would talk to him and that he was just using her, much like Edward was using me to walk his dog 'that he's had for several months' when in fact only a few days.

"Wait, what?" Rose asked, confused by Alice's question.

"All of them lied Rose, not just Emmett." I explained.

"How did you know he lied?" She asked.

I then spent the next half hour walking them through what happened, having to make sure I repeated exactly what words he used so they could get the whole picture of what actually happened. By the time I was finished Alice was very upset and annoyed, wanting to kick Jasper's ass but also showing signs of weakness.

She thought it was rather sweet of him to do that for her, waste his money on clothes he didn't need, wear things that were appalling, she was convinced that also showed how much he cared about her.

Rose wasn't like that at all. She was head strong and completely hating Emmett's guts. He lied and that's that. As far as Rose was concerned he was as good as dead in her book. But then there was me, whose emotions seemed to have been caught in the middle of Alice and Rose's.

On one hand I was like Rose, furious and annoyed at Edward, not believing a thing that he ever said to me since, after all, he is a liar. But then on the other hand I was like Alice. It was kinda cute and sweet of him to buy a dog just to talk to me; he seriously went out of his way. Only the one thing that made me differ from Alice was that I was more annoyed than she was.

Given a couple of hours and I'm sure she would have happily called Jasper and talked the whole thing out before making up. We spent majority of our night avoiding the guys calls and talking or venting about them. Rose was obviously the angriest one and her anger was encouraging ours.

During the middle of our dinner, where we were too lazy to cook so we ordered Chinese food, my cell phone rang. It was Edward and a tiny part of me wanted to answer the call but instead I managed to get Alice to, and with Rose's influence she was acting mean so she didn't give anything away.

"Talk." Alice commanded, putting the phone on loudspeaker.

"Could you ask Bella if she's still going to pick Jake up on Monday?" Edward said, slightly nervously.

"Hold on." Alice put it on mute so Edward couldn't hear us and turned to me. "Do you want to?"

"I feel like I have to since he is still paying me." I explained. "Though I don't want to see him just yet."

"Okay." Alice nodded then returned to the phone which was no longer on loudspeaker. "Yes she'll be there but leave Jake in the lobby and don't try and speak to her."

Alice hung up the phone and turned to me apologetically.

"Did he say anything else?" I asked, having not heard the other end of the conversation that time.

"No." She hugged me softly. "Sorry Bella he just wanted to know about Jake." Rose and her shared a look as I got off the floor to head to the kitchen cupboard to fetch a glass.

As far as I was concerned this had been a crappy day. It started off rather well but then everything just went downhill. I thought I was going to have a romantic meal with Edward, maybe things could progress with us but now I'm glad they didn't. I would have been seriously upset to have found out that he was a liar after we had become very close.

The following morning we were awoken by the door bell which was a serious surprise for all of us. There were three different delivery men there. One from the florists with a bouquet for Rose, one from the sales department at Alice's favourite shoe store –and we didn't even know they could do deliveries-, then the final delivery man was for me and it was from the chocolate factory with a special made up selection of chocolates.

The bouquet was made up of Lilies with a white and red theme to it. The shoes were _Jimmy Choos_ in the brand new design which Alice had been lusting over for months up until its release. And Edward had sent me a fantastic selection of chocolates, including all my favourites and I was curious as to how he knew.

"We will not be bought." Rose stated. After accepting the gifts.

They were placed in the kitchen while we all went to the living room to debate the situation that was no doubt going to arise sometime soon. Alice's eyes kept darting off towards the box of shoes on the counter and it was clear that Jasper knew how to get her to talk to him.

"They are trying to sway us with their money and we will not be treated like common whores."

"Rose that's understandable but maybe we should hear them out." Alice said.

"No. Come on Alice. Jasper lied to you; he used you for his petty amusement. Do you really want to be with a guy like that?" She said.

"No of course not."

"Exactly. Bella?"

"No." A tiny part of me was thinking that Edward wasn't actually bad, he hadn't done anything life threatening but clearly Rose wasn't going to have it any other way.

"Good. Now I'm going to get ready to go to work." Rose returned to her room and then left ten minutes later.

"Surely trying the shoes on won't do any harm, right?" Alice said, clearly having doubts about everything.

"I guess not."

"And you know, you may as well try the chocolates. We wouldn't want the food to go to waste." That was enough reason for me.

We spent that day, off work, and watching a sad movie in the living room. Alice was wearing her shoes, looking at them adoringly every now and then, and I was munching away on the mouth watering chocolates that Edward graced me with.

Little did we realise that these gifts were just the beginning to the guys' apologies. Over the next week we had at least five different types of deliveries coming to our door every day, many unopened envelopes from the guys (we could tell by their writing), multiple answering machine messages and the odd awkward moment when we saw them and they tried to apologise.

Edward was good though. He kept to his word and never once spoke to me when I came to pick up Jake. He would always be in the lobby waiting, but would just hand me Jake's lead so I could get on my way.

I didn't want him to speak to me but yet there was the part of me that wanted him to speak to me anyway. If he truly cared but then again I never knew if he really did. Like Rose says, if they lie about one thing they can lie about anything. I guess I just wasn't ready to trust him any time soon.

Rose didn't like to acknowledge any of the gifts Emmett sent her, and there were a lot. We're talking, concert tickets, gift vouchers, designer clothes, car parts and multiple other things. But her opinion didn't budge. Rose was still set that no amount of money or gifts could sway her.

Poor Emmett was all I could think. He was going to have his work cut out if he really wanted Rose back in his life.

The unspoken rule was that we don't talk about the guys, we bring in their gifts and do what we want with them but we don't ever discuss it. That seemed to change though when we were all having dinner together.

Alice was the first one to break.

"I miss him." Alice admitted.

"You can't. He's a rich liar who is using his money to sway you Alice." Rose warned, she was especially annoyed at Emmett for lying to her. If there is one thing Rose can't stand in a man is when he lies.

"I know I shouldn't**,** but I do." She bit her lip and a small frown appeared on her brow. "I really care for him, even if he did lie. Hell if you think about it it's kinda sweet."

"Sweet, how?"

"Come on, he went out of his way to talk to me. He spent all his time and money and he even dressed like a 60's reject. That's what I'm calling dedication." Now she did have a point there.

Thinking about it, it was mighty sweet of Edward to buy a puppy just so he could talk to me. That really is going out of his way to get somewhere with me. He must have known that his plan could have backfired at any time and that we may have never gotten past the employer and employee relationship. But still he was going to try and that's what showed some level of commitment.

I wanted to call him, listen to what he has to say and try to amend things. Rose may have trust issues but that doesn't mean they have to be forced upon Alice and me. Though by the looks of things Alice is already falling under Rose's spell of hate for the guys.

I do understand her rage and anger at being lied to but Emmett was only trying to get her to talk to him and most likely, though I can't be sure, Rose wouldn't have wanted anything to do with him if he just asked her randomly the first time they met. She likes to know that she's not dating a scum bag and from first impressions you can never be sure.

"Alice, please listen to me." Rose said softly, worry shown over her face. "Take some time to think about it, imagine if he hadn't sent you these lovely gifts would you still want to call him?" Alice frowned and shook her head softly.

"No, I don't think I would."

"Then don't let him buy you. We're not gold diggers so why should they treat us like one?" Rose asked rhetorically.

"Good point. I don't want his money; I don't even care if he has money!" Alice said with a new found passion of anger. "How dare he treat me like that." She huffed and went to her room.

Within a few minutes she was back, putting all of the gifts he sent her into a box and writing 'Jasper' on the side before placing it next to the door. Rose and I just looked at her, wondering what she was going to do with it.

"I'll drop them off at his office tomorrow. He needs to know I'm not some weak girl who's turned on by money." She nodded, more to herself than us.

"Good for you. I'll do the same." Rose said, going to gather her things. "Bella?" She asked, seeing if I would follow that motion.

"Yeah though I can't really give back the chocolates."

"Don't worry its fine." I nodded.

Whether I was doing the correct thing**,** I wasn't sure. Either way I wanted to call Edward and sort this out, before it became something big but was insignificant. In all honesty I missed him, his lips, his arms, his hair, his eyes, and especially his smile. I just wanted my Edward back but I seemed to be sending the opposite message for that.

A.N.

Thanks to Amber is a Jasper's Girl for beta-ing this.


	10. Chapter 10: Doubts And Fear

_Disclaimer: All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer_

**The Things We Do For Love**

**Chapter Ten: Doubts And Fear**

_Edward's POV_

Everything just seemed to be terrible at the moment. There was a ripple through the friendship between Jasper, Emmett and myself. We were all hurt with the girls' decision to stay away from us and we ended up taking it out on each other. Emmett was getting the brunt of it really as he spilt the beans.

I wasn't angry with him, just angry with myself for not being honest with Bella to begin with. Jasper was angry with Emmett though so they usually didn't come round together often. If anything Jasper came round to mine more as Emmett always felt like he had screwed up my life.

With Bella I tried very hard to get her to speak to me. For a while when I dropped Jake off in the lobby I tried to push my luck and get Bella to talk to me but she just took his lead and left. Due to the hostility between me and her it had an effect on Jake.

He was a lot more moody now. Jake would come in after I collected him from the lobby at night and would sulk on the couch. After which I would feed him then he would strop about the apartment. On several occasions he pissed in my shoes, tore my cushions on the couch apart and didn't like me one bit.

My idea to get a puppy so Bella would talk to me not only backfired but left me with a vengeful dog who detested me.

"Hey."Jasper greeted, walking into the work lounge.

"Hi." I finished off my lunch and threw the trash in the bin. "What's up with you?" I asked, noticing how he flinched when he sat down.

"Well since Alice practically wants me dead I was assigned a new personal shopper. This woman is at least seventy years old, thinks I'm a cutie and likes to rough me up a bit." I chuckled and shook my head.

"Rough you up?"

"Yeah, she treats me all nice one minute and tries to flirt then the next minute she practically beats me up. I have bruising on my ribs from when she shoved me into the dressing room." He rubbed his eyes and sighed. "I miss her Edward and I just don't know how to get her back."

"Sorry man, I can't help you." I said shaking my head. To be perfectly honest I didn't even know how to help myself.

"Hey guys." Emmett said walking in, rubbing his hands together.

"I better be going." Jasper said, getting up quickly, despite the pain he was in, and left. Emmett sighed and there was a pained expression across his face.

"Does he know I'm sorry?"

"Yeah Em, he does. I think he just needs some time." He nodded and headed over to the fridge to get his lunch.

"Guess what I saw?"

"What?"

"Rose at the university."

"What's unusual about that, you practically stalk her there." I joked, earning me a glare.

"She was with another guy. He was good looking, not as big as me but still. Rose was smiling and laughing with him, he was making her happy like I should be." I sighed and walked over patting him on the back.

"If the girls don't talk to us we have to move on. I think it's time you do that Em." I was definitely a hypocrite since I couldn't do the same with Bella.

"Thanks man." He nodded then grabbed his food and sat at the table to eat. "I'll try."

My week continued much of the same. Mundane and boring. I wanted to call Bella every chance I could but knew that she wouldn't answer the phone or if she did she would hang up on me when I spoke.

Many of my nights were spent moping with Jake. Even though he didn't like me we had one bonding session. I would sit down at my piano every night and just play what I felt. After the first few nights of doing this Jake hopped up onto the piano stool with me and joined in with his howls.

We were a pathetic pair, brooding over the one we loved.

During the work days there was nothing different so when Alice, Rose and Bella came in with a big cardboard box Emmett, Jasper and I were very confused. They didn't say anything, just dumped the boxes and left. There was one addressed to each of us so we opened them up and sadly saw what we didn't want to.

In the box with my name across it were all the gifts I had sent to Bella minus the chocolates. She didn't want anything to do with me therefore gave them all back. I didn't think that she would like me buying things for her but never expected her to return them.

From the looks on the other guys' faces their boxes were filled with the gifts they bought for Alice and Rose. Emmett looked most hurt and his expression was one like a kicked puppy. If only Rose could have seen his face then, I'm sure she would have forgiven him completely.

Jasper just huffed and stropped off to his office leaving us both in the reception. I closed the box and asked the receptionist to hold it behind the desk until later. Emmett followed my lead then we headed back to my office.

"You alright buddy?" He just sighed and nodded.

"I just miss her badly and want Rose back."

"Same here but we know that isn't going to happen anytime soon." I took a seat and watched as Emmett opened and closed his mouth as though to say something.

"What did I do to Jazz?" He questioned.

"Look Em he's just hurting at the moment. If I had been the one to let things spill then he'd be annoyed at me. Just give it some time, alright?"

"Yeah I just, you don't blame me right?"

"Of course not. It's my own fault. I should have been honest with Bella since the beginning." He nodded but was glum. "Things will improve; we just need to give them time." I said as I left though I didn't have full confidence in my own words.

I doubted things would ever improve.

_Bella's POV_

Rose was driving me crazy. I love her and all but at times like this I just want to hit her for being so irritating. Alice was close to breaking and calling Jazz and I wanted to meet up with Edward to talk things out. Rose didn't want us to get caught up with the 'lying gits' which usually meant we wouldn't contact them at all.

She was an amazing friend but at times like this I needed Rose to step back and understand others opinions, not just her own.

On another note Rose was seeing a new guy. Alice and I figured she was only dating him because she couldn't or wouldn't date Emmett. The guy was pretty decent but we didn't really know him that well, Rose and him just spent their time in her bedroom and I'm pretty sure you can work out what they were doing.

He kinda gave me the creeps at times. I think his name was James but I couldn't be sure. I try and keep my distance and I tell Alice to do the say. Whenever we try and tell Rose that he's a bit creepy she jumps the gun and thinks we're trying to get her to go back to Emmett when really we just want her away from James.

Rose and him had been out and when they came in they headed straight to her bedroom. Alice and I didn't think much of it and just went about things like usual. During the night I woke up around two in the morning and went to get a drink of water from the kitchen.

The place was pitch black and so I didn't disturb the others I kept the lights out and made as little noise as possible. The only light guiding me was from the street lights outside. While I was fetching the glass out the cupboard I saw James standing by Rose's door, watching me.

He didn't move or say anything, just kept watching. My heart rate was all over the place and I was terrified but just kept going about like nothing was wrong. I got my water, drank it and put the glass in the sink. Slowly, and very anxiously, I headed back towards my bedroom door, which was about five feet from where he was standing.

The hairs on the back of my neck were standing, I could hear my pulse pumping in my ears, my senses were heighted due to the fear and I was so scared. But I walked forward and headed towards my door, watching him the entire time.

When I got close he cocked his head to the side and smiled before checking me out. That was when I pegged it into my room, shut the door and locked it. I practically broke down on the other side of the door.

I never heard him return to Rose's room and I never heard him take one step. He was silent and that thought scared me even more. I turned on my lights and sat on the bed, just listening for any noise that could have been him before eventually falling asleep.

The next morning I looked like hell but just said I had a restless night, the girls bought it but James sat smirking at me when I grabbed my coffee to go. Since then I told Alice to lock her doors at night when he was round and tried to warn Rose off of him, unfortunately to no luck.

It was at times like that where I wished I could call up Edward and go over and stay with him or ask to borrow Jake and keep him in the hall for protection. Edward would have understood but now, due to everything that had happened there was no possible way for me to do that.

With every day that passed I missed him more and more and knew one of these days I was going to have to accept the fact that I needed to talk to him. But I don't know what was stopping me. I mean I wanted to talk to him but every time I thought about calling him I would freak out and change my mind.

It was like I was scared of why he lied to me, like when he told the truth he would also tell me he lied about his feelings for me and that all he wanted was a quick lay on the side. Yet a part of me knew Edward would never do that.

I was so confused.

A.N.

Short chapter but I needed to get some of that out the way. Kind of a filler. Next one should be better.


	11. Chapter 11: Secrets From Rose

_Disclaimer: All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer_

**The Things We Do For Love**

**Chapter Eleven: Secrets From Rose**

_Alice's POV_

I didn't care what Rose or Bella thought, I was going to meet Jasper.

We had spoken last night on the phone and he spent ten minutes apologising when I had already forgiven him. If anything, what he did was sweet and rather romantic. It made me like him even more.

He also told me about the crazy lady I had set him up with to be his new personal shopper and I automatically felt guilty for unleashing that witch on him. I thought it would be funny but it most definitely wasn't for him. So the following morning I called work and told them I'd take Jasper back as my client. To be honest work recently hadn't been as much fun without him and I missed him more and more with each passing day.

The arrangement was that he would take the day off work, I would meet him at a café close to mine and we'd talk some more, face to face. I think we were going to take things slow even though he had already told me that he wanted more than a friendship with me.

One day he planned on taking me out on a date, but only when I was ready. Though I was pretty sure I was ready now, I'd just have to convince him of that.

I took a half day off and went over to the café on the corner, one of my favourite places to go. Jasper was already there, sitting nervously waiting on me I smiled at him through the window then pushed the door open and let myself in.

Jasper stood up immediately on my arrival at the table and smiled at me, making my heart skip a few beats at his gorgeous good looks.

"I'll get you something to eat or drink. What would you like?"

"A hot chocolate would be nice." I said while sliding my coat off, feeling his eyes on me.

"Coming right up." He darted away to the counter, letting me get a chance to calm myself.

"Here." Jasper placed the mug down then sat opposite me.

"Thanks."

"It was no bother. I should thank you just for being here and meeting up with me."

"No, look I'm sorry for over-reacting. I just didn't like being lied to." I said, watching for his reaction.

"Perfectly reasonable. But I only lied as I felt like a school boy again asking a girl out for the first time and that nervous feeling was consuming me."

"I'm sorry I made you feel that way." I said, taking a sip of my hot chocolate and savouring the hot liquid running down my throat.

"I'm not. Hell you're the most exciting and thrilling thing that's happened to me in years. Before you everything was dull and mundane."

"So if everything's fine now, what does that mean for us?" I asked him, hoping her would want to at least be friends.

"This means that I would like for you to be my girlfriend and take back the gifts I gave you since I have no purpose for them." I smirked at him. "So will you Alice, will you be my girlfriend?"

"Of course Jasper." He grinned at me, making my insides melt. "But I have one condition."

"Okay…what is it?" He asked slowly and cautiously.

"We can't tell anyone or let the others know. It has to be kept quiet."

I didn't want to handle Rose and Bella's reaction to this so it was best just to keep it to ourselves. Well to be honest I wasn't worried about Bella's reaction, more of Rose's. She wouldn't be impressed and although it didn't matter as it was none of her business I didn't want to cause tension in the apartment.

"I can do that, if that's what you want." Jasper said, seeming a bit deflated.

"Don't think it's because I'm embarrassed, because I'm not. I would love to shout this out from the rooftops and you know I would do it, I just…with Rose feeling scorned over what happened it will cause issues I don't want to handle right now." I said to him praying that he wouldn't think it's because he was an embarrassment to me.

"I understand." He kissed my hand and smiled at me.

"Great." With that out the way I desperately wanted to kiss him but right then didn't seem like the ideal moment. So instead we spent several hours just talking and getting to know each other much better.

When it was time to leave me insisted that he left the tip even though he paid and walked me back to my workplace. We stood outside for a couple of minutes, neither of us saying anything, just looking at each other. It was so cold outside you could see our breathes in the air. This caused my eyes to go to his lips which was a mistake.

I mauled him with my lips.

My hands were in his hair, pulling him closer to me. My tongue was trying to get into his mouth and I was making small moans as his lips moved against mine. Jasper had one hand on my hip, pulling me into him roughly, and the other on my neck. He ended up pressing me against a wall and I loved every second of it.

"Are you free tonight?" I asked basically panting.

"Yeah. Can I see you?"

"Absolutely." I kissed him again.

"I'll call you." I nodded and he gave me one last searing kiss before departing.

God I wanted him badly.

_Edward's POV_

Nothing had changed and it seemed like nothing ever would. I was still hung up on her and knew that my affections wouldn't disappear overnight. It would be easy if they did but of course nothing is ever easy as I've come to learn.

There wasn't anything to look forward to in my day so after I dropped Jake down in the apartment lobby I headed straight to the practice. There I was met with my usual work and the other things I had to do like paperwork etc.

The atmosphere between Jasper and Emmett was slowly increasing, thankfully, but I knew it would take more time than I liked. They had to work out their issues and I was not going to be the mediator, that would eventually lead to me taking sides, which I was not going to do.

With that all pushed to the side I got on with everything else. The only excitement lined up for this week would be visiting my parents for dinner. They knew there was something unusual going on with me so wanted to have a meal so I could talk it out with them.

Later in my day I checked my schedule and saw I didn't have another surgery until three o'clock. With two hours to spare I grabbed my jacket and left, going to buy a gift for my parents.

Since they were having me over for dinner it seemed polite to bring them something. It would most likely be flowers or something for the house, it didn't really matter but I liked to look for something nice for them.

Most of the shops were empty so it allowed me to get the task done faster. I found a vase I thought my mother might like and had it gift wrapped. Since I had quite a while before I had to make my way back to the office I walked to the park and took a seat on one of the benches, just to watch life go by.

There was enough to amuse me with the young children playing, the dogs running crazily and giving their walkers hell, and the paper left on the bench next to me. I was enjoying myself, taking time out to just relax and get some fresh air when everything shot down around me.

Walking across the park, hand in hand, was Bella and Mike. I knew him from med school and thought he was a weasel. Not only was he a sleaze bag who would hit on anything female but he also was very unethical and didn't treat women with any respect. Hatred would be too light a word, I completely despised him.

"Edward." Mike called, smiling at me.

"Hey." I folded the paper and put it down next to me before grabbing my bag and getting up.

"How are you? I haven't seen you in ages." He shook my hand too firmly for my liking.

"I'm fine thank you." I looked at Bella to see her looking down at the ground.

"Oh how rude of me. Edward this is Bella Swan, Bella this is Edward Cullen. We went to med school together and occasionally see each other at charity functions."

"We…eh know each other Mike, thanks." He grinned wider at me, showing he already knew that.

"Right, my bad. How did you two meet?"

"I walk his dog." Bella said, deciding not to add any more to it. So I guess she put it in perfect perspective, I was just her employer and nothing more. "Just so you don't panic Jake is with my friend, she's a vet. He was sick earlier and she's checking him out. I was told to pick him up in an hour."

"No problem. Eh…when you drop him off I'll be there so you can give me the full low down of what's wrong with him."

"Of course." She was speaking through me, not to me. The entire conversation was had with the ground and I felt like a complete fool.

"Well it's good to know you two are such good friends, we better be going. Bella and I have a date to get to. See you later Edward." He smacked my arm and pushed me away. I stumbled but tried hard not to show it. Hearing Mike laugh as he walked away made me want to smack him hard but I knew that would not be wise.

My pride was a bit battered but I just got my things together and left. He had ruined my day and then made it even worse by being with Bella. She had moved on. Rose and moved on and now her.

The rest of the day passed very quickly. I did the surgeries I had to do then got the hell out of the office. For starters, I wanted to get back to my apartment so I could speak to Bella and second, Jasper and Emmett were having an 'icy' moment. I definitely didn't want to be around for that. They just needed to work out their spat in their own time.

There was enough time when I got home for me to dump a few of my things in the house and then hopped down to the lobby just to see Bella enter. Jake was at her side trotting along quite happily and it was hard to believe that he could be unwell earlier.

"Hey." I said, walking over with my hands in my pockets, trying to appear casual.

"Hi. The vet said he just ate something he shouldn't have. It seemed like it was a bar of chocolate with the wrapper still on."

"Oh, right. Well I guess I should keep a better eye on him." I took the lead and Jake clawed at my legs, clearly not wanting to come back to me.

"Yeah. Bye." She said quickly.

"No wait Bella please." I put my arm out and gently touched her elbow. She stopped but didn't turn to me. "Give me one minute to explain. That's all I ask."

"One minute." She said, finally turning round to me.

Silently I thanked God and we walked through the lobby and into the lift. No doubt she thought I was going to travel up to my floor and let her in to my apartment before I began but I couldn't wait that long. I hit the emergency stop button and turned to her.

"Basically I had a crush on you, a school boy crush. I was nervous and didn't know what to say or do to get you to talk to me for longer than thirty seconds. I jumped at the opportunity to speak to you and the only way I could think of was to buy a puppy and have you walk him. It was rash, stupid and very foolish but to be honest I don't regret it, I would do it over again just so I could get that moment to talk to you and move our friendship on to a relationship. The only thing I would change, I would have told you sooner so I didn't get webbed in lies."

I waited for any type of reaction but didn't get any. She just looked at me and bit her lip before sighing. Leaning over she pressed my floor button and the lift moved up again. I didn't know what was going on but really wasn't going to say anything just in case I stopped it.

The elevator doors opened and Bella held my free hand and gently tugged me out towards my apartment. Jake followed on our heels and both he and Bella waited until I opened the door before going in, with me last to shut the door. I just stood in the middle of the floor confused, frowning.

"Edward…I…to be honest I missed you."

"So why have you ignored me and why did you send back the gifts I sent you? I thought you would like them?" She came over to me, held my hands and looked straight at me.

"I did like them. I loved them."

"So why return them to me?" I asked a little confused and hurt still. Mixed messages were being sent all over the place to me.

"To stand firm with Rose and Alice, well more Rose. I'm sure Alice is going to cave any day now."

"What does this mean?" I needed some clarification.

"I'm not sure. I don't mix business with pleasure and currently you are my employer."

"What about you and Mike?" She rolled her eyes and smirked.

"He 'accidentally' walked into me and wanted to make it up to me so he was taking me to lunch. That's all, I had never met him before that and after that lunch I never want to meet him again." I chuckled, knowing what a git he was and smiled at her.

"And about this business with pleasure thing?"

"Well I either quit or you fire me. Whatever happens we can't have anything if you're paying me, that would basically make me a prostitute." I smirked at how brazen she was but knew she was right.

"So which one do you prefer? If you quit I can't give you severance pay." I pointed out. Bella laughed and wrapped her arms round my neck.

"Fire me?"

"Alright then. Bella you're fired."I dropped Jake's leash and put my arms on her hips.

"Thank you Mr Cullen. So now that I am no longer your employee what does that mean we can do?" She gave me a flirtatious smile but I was going to do this right this time round.

"This means I can take you on a date and we can finally try and be together. If you want?" She kissed my cheek and nodded.

"That's exactly what I want."

"Then tomorrow night?" Bella nodded again and leant in to kiss me but was unfortunately interrupted by her cell phone ringing.

"Hello?" I decided to kiss the exposed skin on her neck since I couldn't kiss her lips. "No Rose I am just on my way home. I stopped at a store to get…eh…a vase. It looked nice and I thought we could put it somewhere in the apartment. Great okay bye."

"A vase?" I asked.

"I don't know, it was Rose. She doesn't want me talking to you. She's very pissed that you guys lied and thinks it's completely inappropriate for us to forgive you. So basically we will be keeping this a secret and I need that vase."

"What vase?" She turned my head to the gift I bought my mother. "Oh right. Well sure okay."

"You're frowning, whose was that?"

"It was a gift." I said shrugging.

"For?" Bella raised her eyebrows at me.

"Esme."

"Oh no keep it. I'm sorry, I'll just tell them I couldn't find one I liked." She went to step away but I stopped her.

"Bella, if we are to keep this a secret so it doesn't cause a problem between your friendship then that's what we will do. Take the vase and I'm sure I can find some other way for you to make it up to me." I smiled at her, earning a cheeky one in return.

"Yeah I'm sure we can do that." I kissed her softly, missing the softness of her lips. "I better go."

"Okay but remember our date."

"How could I forget?" She kissed me one last time on the cheek then leant down, stroked Jake goodbye and left with bag in hand.

God I loved her and now I could show it, albeit in secret.


	12. Chapter 12: In Danger

_Disclaimer: All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer_

**The Things We Do For Love**

**Chapter Twelve: In Danger**

_Edward's POV_

Jake was causing me chaos and because of that I had to take him to puppy classes which were apparently way overdue according to Bella. She had called a friend she knew and arranged for one on one lessons so Jake's act could get cleaned up.

We were going to try and fix his behaviour towards cushions and the need to destroy them, his problem with tearing plants apart, digging the carpets and tearing it, not responding well to being on a lead, and not doing as he's told.

I know it's going to be a hard journey to get Jake to be the perfect pooch but it needs to be done. I don't want him growing accustom to his bad manners and being a dreadful pet when he's fully grown.

So that meant the Jake, Bella and I would go to one of these puppy classes and hope for the best. Of course we had to do this in secret as Bella was still not telling Alice or Rose that we had decided to make up and get back together.

She promised me that eventually she would tell them but right now was not the time. Rose was still in denial over the lies she was told and that we we're all pigs that should rot in hell. That was beginning to piss me of but as it wasn't my place to say anything.

Rose was acting all high and mighty and sticking her nose in places it didn't belong which was also annoying me. With her influence over Bella she might have not forgiven me and we could still have been in that awkward stage we were in before where we were both miserable.

Though according to Bella Rose now had a new man so was backing off on them but she didn't hold back her opinions of us when we were mentioned. I apparently was a lying git who has no professionalism whatsoever, Jasper is a conniving and sneaky fool who is only bribing Alice to go out with him, and that left Emmett being the son of a bitch who was more concerned with what was in his pants rather than anything else.

She was completely wrong about all of us but I don't think that really mattered to Rose. I only wanted a chance with Bella, Jasper knew that his generous side would help him with Alice but would never use it to get her to date him, if she didn't want to she didn't have to, and Emmett was a very kind guy who would do anything for the right girl. In my opinion I think he's mistaken that Rose is the right girl for him, he could do better and find a more forgiving girl who would be flattered by his actions.

Alas, it had nothing to do with me so I stayed out of it and kept my thoughts to myself. Today we planned to go to the first puppy class, which I was dreading. I could see it being chaos but was trusting Bella when she said it would be fine.

I did take her word for it, until Jake decided to piss against the wall in the private puppy class. Both Bella and I were shocked by his actions as he was house trained and hadn't done that since I first got him.

"It says here he's house trained?" The teacher accused.

"He is." Bella said, frowning at Jake. "I promise you he's never done that before." Jake acted like there was no problem and carelessly trotted around the room, sniffing the plant in the corner, the chairs etc. oblivious to the mess he had just made.

"Well aside from his little incident let's get started. Can you call him over Edward?"

"Jake, come." I called. He lifted his head, looked at me then carried on his pursuit of the room.

"Try again." The teacher said.

"Jake, come!" He didn't. Instead he rolled on his back to have his belly scratched.

"Bella, why don't you try?"

"Jake, come." Instantly he rolled over and trotted over and sat at her feet, looking up at her expectantly.

"Right, for starters, Jake does not see you as the alpha male in the house. Bella is the alpha female and Jake is aware of that, so he thinks he is the alpha male and you are someone below him in the pack. He will obey Bella but not you. Edward, you need to become the alpha male in this pack."

"Okay. I think I can do that."

"I'll let you try and do that until our next session but why don't we try and address some of his problems with cushions and plants."

The woman went over, grabbed the cushion and placed it on the floor. Jake watched it for a minute and then dove across the floor and started tearing it apart. Fluff was going everywhere and Jake looked very satisfied with a job well done.

The three of us spent the next twenty minutes trying out a technique to prevent this from happening. Whenever he went near the cushion we used an electric pocket whistle that made a loud whistle every time you pressed the button. Jake didn't like it one bit and ran across the room from it.

The technique seemed to be working so we did the same with the plants and once our session was over we purchased one of the pocket whistles and were going to make an effort to try it at home. Hopefully we would be able to come back next week and have the problem with the cushions and plants averted. We were expecting that the noise would be associated with those items and he would fear it. I just wanted that to work, I was tired of having to buy new plants and cushions.

After the session we grabbed a sandwich from a local store nearby and headed to the local park to eat together and that way we could have Jake nearby. He spent his time dashing round the park chasing the pigeons as Bella and I ate on the bench close by.

"Can I take you out tomorrow? I have tickets for the theatre; they were given to the practice and would most likely go to waste otherwise."

"I think I can get away from the others. I'll just say that I have a blind date. Alice will want to dress me up but I don't think she'll suspect anything."

"So you'll come then?" I asked hopefully.

"Of course, I'd love to." She caressed my cheek then kissed me softly.

"What will you tell the others?"

"Even though I don't like lying I'll have to. It's just got to be done. Unless I hide the truth from them. I could just tell them I'm on a date. That's the truth and I'll just not tell them who it's with. IF they ask I'll also say it's a blind date."

"And they'll buy it?"

"I hope so. I doubt they'll suspect I'm with you though so there's no need to worry about that." Bella said as we watched Jake scamper about, content with himself.

After our lunch in the park we took Jake back to mine and practiced our puppy class techniques and right enough, the minute Jake got unleashed into the apartment he went to attack the plants. Bella was going to tell him off but I beat her to it by using the pocket whistle. He yelped in shock and raced to the kitchen where I followed up by verbally telling him off for his crime.

Having my dog not regard me as the alpha male was pretty pathetic so I was going to be working hard to right that. Somehow Bella could get him to act all sweet and nice but I couldn't. I wasn't going to stand that. It's good he respected her but he should also respect me too.

We fooled around for a while and then Bella had to depart. Rose and Alice would eventually get suspicious so we were going to try not to give them anything to be suspicious about. Both Jake and I were very sad when she left but it was inevitable.

So when she left we grabbed some food, I grabbed some crisps for me and some dog biscuits for Jake. We sat on the couch, munching away and watched some rugby together. Jake supported one team while I supported the other and we seemed to bond with one another.

For some reason I felt like I hadn't adapted with Jake. When I first got him he was the perfect pooch but now he seemed to have a new personality and that one wasn't very agreeable with how things were going in my life.

We'd get past that though, Bella and I together. Things would work out and sooner or later we'd be able to tell our friends about our relationship, just not now for obvious reasons.

_Bella's POV_

When I returned to the apartment the girls were in the living room watching TV and Rose was wrapped in James's arms. My light mood from spending time with Edward was destroyed the second James smiled at me.

It wasn't a friendly smile, more of a threatening one. I glared back at him and settled down on the other couch with Alice. She glanced at me briefly then her eyes widened.

"You smell like Edward." She whispered to me at a commercial break when James and Rose had gone into the kitchen.

"What?!"

"You smell like Edward. You spent the afternoon with him. Oh my god Bella, you caved!" For some reason, which I didn't understand, she wasn't angry but more excited.

"Fine, yes I caved. Are you going to tell Rose?"

"Of course not. If I told her you were with Edward then I'd have to tell her I was with Jasper." Alice winked and giggled quietly.

"You little sneak!" She giggled again and nodded.

"Look I think now that we both know the truth we should keep it to ourselves and use each other as alibis for Rose. That way she won't think anything of it. She knows we're both a little miffed with her so we could spend time with one another without her and she'll understand. When are you next seeing him?"

"Tomorrow night, he's taking me to the theatre."

"Good cause I'm going out with Jasper to meet his parents."

"Why are you meeting his parents?"

"He says he wants me to meet them." Alice shrugged.

"Sounds serious."

"I think it is. He's been asking me about what I want in life."

"Like children and marriage?" I asked, looking briefly into the kitchen to see Rose and James murmuring and kissing.

"Exactly like children and marriage."

"Do you think he'll ask you to marry him?"

"I'm not sure. I think he's hinting at it but maybe not."

"Would you like him to ask you?"

"Again I'm not sure." She frowned and sighed. "I love him like crazy but marriage…I don't know if we're ready yet. I don't want to rush our relationship just in case it all falls to pieces."

"What's going to fall to pieces?" Rose asked, sitting down again with James.

"Oh, this dress I'm making. The materials very delicate and the stitching is just tearing it apart. I'm hoping once I put it on it'll be fine but I can't be sure." Alice lied effortlessly.

Rose just nodded and snuggled closer into James who didn't seem to be listening to the conversation, just staring at me with his head cocked to the side rather eerie like. I shivered and wrapped my arms around myself in protection.

After a while I retired to my room and read a book. Time passed quicker than I thought and when I glanced at the clock I saw it was half one in the morning. That certainly was a shock. I shoved a book marker in my current page and went to the kitchen for a drink.

As far as I knew James wasn't staying over tonight. For that I was thankful. I returned to my room with my water and nestled into bed, switched the bedside light off and attempted sleep.

It never came.

Not because I wasn't tired but because I thought I could hear someone walking around in the living room. The movements only lasted a few minutes so I thought it was Alice or Rose. But then my door opened and that wasn't something they would do, not at half one in the morning and not without knocking gently.

I was too scared to turn round so shut my eyes tight and stayed quiet, hoping whoever it was would just go away. It could have been five minutes or five hours, I don't know but eventually they left.

Fear was running through my veins at neck breaking speeds. I had to get out of the apartment but was too scared to move. He could be waiting for me. I slowly got out of my bed and turned on all the lights then called Edward.

"Hi, what is it? What's happened? Are you okay? You sound upset."

"Hi. I'm alright but I was wondering if I could borrow Jake tomorrow night. I don't feel safe here."

"Why? What's happened?!" Edward asked frantically.

"Nothing. I just would like him here."

"Absolutely. He'll be there for you. Now do you need me to come over?"

"No I just want you to talk to me about anything and everything."

"Okay, I can do that."

"Thanks."

Edward spent the night distracting me but it didn't unnerve me from who had been standing over my bed watching me 'sleep'. That was an issue I was going to have to handle but maybe Jake could help me feel safer.


	13. Chapter 13: Protection

_Disclaimer: All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer_

**The Things We Do For Love**

**Chapter Thirteen: Protection**

_Bella's POV_

Edward spent the whole night talking to me and when six am came around I felt extremely guilty for asking him to. For starters, I knew he had a lot of work to do and I was making his job so much harder by not letting him sleep.

I mean I would hate to have him doze off in the middle of a surgery and cut something that he wasn't meant to. He literally had lives in his hands and I put them at jeopardy. I'm such a fricken idiot.

My day was not quite as stressful. All I had to do was collect Jake and the other dogs then take them on their walk before feeding them and eventually handing them back over to the owners. The only one I wouldn't be handing back was Jake.

Edward had no problem with me keeping him at my apartment. Though I was certain Alice and Rose might have a problem. That was going to be one of my tasks this morning.

After crawling out of bed I nipped in the shower. I snuck a look at myself in the mirror and saw big black circles under my eyes. I looked like hell. The water was gently soothing me for some reason and I felt much better getting out.

I wrapped a towel round myself and went to take the water out of my hair when there was a knock at the door.

"Yeah?"

"Bella, can I come in?" Alice asked, her voice sounded very off. Usually she was a lively sprite in the morning but today that seemed shot to hell.

I answered her by opening the door and she shuffled in. Just like me she had dark circles under her eyes and the almost constant excitement of Alice had vanished.

"What's wrong?"

"I should be asking you the same thing." She said. I sat on the toilet seat as she settled down on the floor after locking the door and turning the shower back on.

"What's that for?" I asked.

"Noise. I don't know if he's here and I don't want him hearing." The hairs on the back on my neck stood up automatically. He must have done the same thing to Alice last night and gone into her room, hopefully he didn't do anything more than just stand over her bed.

"Did he hurt you?" I practically whispered, just loud enough for her to hear me.

"No. I heard him come in the room but I thought I imagined it so settled back to bed. It wasn't until I shifted and thought I saw someone standing at the bottom of the bed that I became freaked. He was too far back, against the wall so I just saw this black figure but I knew it was him. I could smell him." She shivered and wrapped her tiny arms round herself.

"I didn't know what to do so pretended it never happened. Eventually he left and I panicked. As fast as I could I shoved the dresser in front of the door and had all the lights on. I was going to go and check on you but I was too scared. Did he hurt you?" She was so close to tears.

"No, he did the same. Just stand there and then left."

"What did you do?"

"I called Edward and asked if I could borrow Jake and then made him talk to me all night."

"I was going to call Jasper but didn't want him to worry. So will Jake be here tonight?" I nodded.

"How do you think Rose will react to that?"

"Frankly I don't care. If he wasn't standing in the kitchen with her right now I'd march right in there and tell her what I think. But I can't. Every time he looks at me I cringe and I don't know why. It's like I can tell something bad is going to happen, I just don't know what it'll be."

"Do you want to sleep in my room tonight?" I asked since my bed was bigger than hers.

"Please." I held my arms out for her and she gave me a tight hug. "We need to talk to Rose soon. I don't think I can carry on living here if he's going to be around."

"Me neither. We'll find some time, it might take a while but we will talk to her. Until then you can come to my room and Jake will be with us."

"Thanks."

"It's nothing Alice; I know you'd do the same for me if I had come to you first."

Alice turned off the shower and let me leave the bathroom. I went back to mine and dressed in my warmest wears before heading out. James was in our kitchen, in boxers and a t-shirt, smirking at me and Alice as we left together. For some reason we were going safety in numbers.

On the street we departed and went our separate ways but not before checking we both had pepper spray. I told Alice to call me if she needed anything and hoped that she'd be alright. This whole situation had really taken a toll on her.

Rose was bloody oblivious though and that just made me angry. You'd think she'd be more aware of her roommate's feelings and not just be so wrapped up in herself. This was so unlike Rose that it made me wonder just how hurt she had been by Emmett lying.

I don't think it was his fault so much, just that he lied. Clearly Rose had some awful history with liars that she didn't want to share so thought them as the scum of the earth. Well whatever, to me I'd take Emmett's lies over James's creepiness any day of the week.

On arrival at Edward's apartment complex the guy in the lobby handed me Jake and a note from Edward. He wrote of how he was worried about me and if I had time could I go round to the surgery.

Since I only had Jake and one other dog, Rebus, I figured that it would be alright if I went round. Once I had the dogs exhausted after their walk I went to see Edward. He practically ran at me when he heard I was there.

We had to meet in the car park as the dogs were now strictly banned from entering the building. So I was waiting outside when Edward came out. He looked me over, checking for injuries probably, as he walked over.

"How are you? Alright? What happened last night?" Before I had a chance to answer he kissed me passionately and had me pressed against a car.

"Edward we'll set the alarm off." I warned.

"It's fine, it's only Jasper's. Now tell me what happened?"

"It's nothing. I'm going to handle it. Well actually Jake might handle it for me."

"I'm worried love. I don't know what's going on and I'm nervous for you. Please, tell me?" He pouted at me and kissed my neck, trying to win me over.

"Alright but I'd like to speak with Emmett and Jasper too if that's okay?"

"Absolutely." He said nodding. "Just give me a minute to get the guys."

Edward went back in and came out a minute later with the two of them. They both looked a little tense and worried.

"What's going on?" Jasper asked.

"Hey Jakey!" Emmett greeted the dogs and looked up, waiting for my response.

"Alice and I are worried about the guy Rose is seeing." I started.

"Worried how?" Emmett frowned.

"He's a little creepy. The guys name is James and he sort of watches us intently and follows us with his eyes. He scares us but we didn't think a lot of it. One night I saw him standing in the hall watching me but last night he came into both of our rooms-"

"The fucker!"

"I'm going to kill this bastard!"

"What?!"

They all cried. I shook my head and told them all to shut up before continuing.

"He never touched us."

"Then what did he do?" Jasper asked.

"He just stood there watching us in bed. We both pretended to sleep until he left then I turned the lights on and called you. Alice put her dresser in front of the door then turned the lights on. Both of us are fine but we want some reassurance tonight, hence why we want Jake."

"I don't want you staying there." Edward said, shaking his head.

"No, it's alright."

"What if he comes in and decides that he's not satisfied watching another night and wants some action. I am not letting you stay there with that possibility."

I ignored Emmett and Jasper and pulled Edward to me, kissing him softly as I ran my hands through his hair.

"I know this isn't what you want but if he's going to try something its best that Rose is present. Even though she's being a stubborn bitch right now I don't want him hurting her. It's better if she finds out what a creep he is from us now rather than later when he's beating her to a pulp and going to rape her. So please, trust me on this."

"I will but I want you to know I'm very worried and personally think it would be much better if you came and stayed with me. "

"I would if I knew Rose would come to her senses about James but she just won't. The minute it's over, can I call you and stay over?"

"Absolutely, I wouldn't have it any other way. Now, what's your excuse of having Jake for a while?"

"You're out of the country." I told Edward.

"Really? I'm not scheduled to go anywhere." He said smirking at me.

"I know but I need you to leave." I said, securing my arms round his neck.

"Do I actually have to leave or can I just keep a low profile?"

"Low profile. There's no way I'm having you leave me."

"Good."

"Look I'm sorry to break this up but we all have to get back, we're due in surgery in about five minutes and it'll take fifteen to get prepped." Jasper said, looking at me apologetically.

"You two go ahead and I'll catch up." Edward said.

"No, I kept you up all night and I'm not going to make you late for surgery. Go." I practically ordered. Edward pouted and then kissed me before heading back to his office building.

I fed the dogs back at the apartment and then returned Rebus to his owner. The apartment was empty when Jake and I returned and I was glad for the peace and quiet. I would have hated it if James and Rose had been here together.

Jake followed me round constantly, never letting me get out of sight and I felt much safer with him around. Alice came home half an hour after I did and she looked beat and dead on her feet.

"I'm so exhausted." She moaned, plopping down on the couch where Jake jumped up and lay next to her. "Hey boy, I'm so happy you're here." She scratched Jake's ears and looked to me. "Thank Edward for me."

"I will. You'll get a call from Jasper tonight." I told her, hoping that she wouldn't mind how I had to tell the guys about what was going on.

"How'd he take the news?"

"He wanted to kill James and protect you. I don't think any of them are happy that we're doing this, they would much rather we stayed with them. I hope you don't mind but if things go pear shaped tonight and James does come into the room, once the situation is handled I'm going to stay with Edward."

"No I don't mind. As much as I want this over with I really don't want him to come here tonight."

"Me too."

Unfortunately we weren't getting our way. Within the hour Rose came back and then just after her James came in and they were then all over each over. Even though I liked Emmett better I wouldn't have a problem with James if he wasn't such a creepy freak.

The minute Rose came back I knew James would come in soon so I took Jake to my bedroom and shut him in there. He thankfully didn't make any noise and remained silent throughout the time he was alone.

Alice and I didn't stay in the living room long as we felt very uncomfortable around James. Rose never seemed to notice that we left almost immediately on his arrival and that really pissed me off but I wasn't going to bring it up with him around. He'd just get some cheap thrill from it.

By the time ten o'clock came around Alice and I wanted to sleep so both got ready for bed. We put a blanket down for Jake along with a bowl of water and hoped that if we needed Jake's protection tonight he'd be there for us.

I wasn't aware how long I had slept for before I heard the familiar sound of the door opening. Glancing at the clock quickly I noted it was half two in the morning. From the looks of things Alice hadn't woken up but her body was too tense.

Slowly I turned in the bed and saw the familiar cold and dead eyes of James. He had a sadistic smile on his face and gently shut the door behind him. I sat up in my bed quickly and went to scream for Rose's attention but his hand was over my mouth. He had failed to notice Alice but I knew for a fact she had noticed him.

"No no no. We don't want you making any noise and alerting our dear friends." I struggled against him, slapped his cheek and tried to push him away.

James repositioned himself so he had my arms stuck above my head and one of his hands was still over my mouth.

"What did we say? You're not to make a noise and it would be better if you didn't struggle. Now I'm not going to hurt you."

No he wasn't as he wouldn't get the chance. Jake growled, practically frothing at the mouth, before jumping for James. He reeled back and smacked Jake on the nose with his first. There was a yelp of pain from Jake as he let go of James's arm and scattered backwards.

Alice and I both scrambled up and she screamed loudly before pelting James with her firsts. Jake had come back for another go and latched onto James's ankle. The sound of Jake ripping at his flesh was horrific. Of course along with that there was my sobs, Alice's cries of anger, and James's moaning in pain.

The door flew open loudly and Rose had a bat in her hand. Without even looking she hit James with it. I grabbed Jake and pulled him away from the now limp body lying on the floor.

"What the fuck is going on?!" Rose asked, just seeing who it was.

It should have been obvious what was going on but I knew we'd have to explain regardless. I just hoped Rose would understand our side of it.


	14. Chapter 14: Sorted

_Disclaimer: All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer_

**The Things We Do For Love**

**Chapter Fourteen: Sorted**

_Bella's POV_

"_What the fuck is going on?!"Rose asked. _

Alice and I looked at each other, my tears had dried up and I was holding Jake by the collar while Alice was trembling.

"Will one of you answer me why I just hit my boyfriend over the head with a bat?!"

"He…he was…he-" Alice started shaking her head and dropped onto the bed.

Jake escaped from my grasp and jumped onto the bed next to her. He dropped his head on her lap and tried his best to comfort Alice. She patted his head softly and inspected his noise for any signs of injury from James's punch.

"Bella?"

"He's been coming in to our rooms." Rose's eyes narrowed. "Well this was the second time that I know of. The first he just stood over the bed and watched then left. He was bound to come back. Alice had the same problem so we decided to stay in my room tonight. Just as we thought, he came in, crawled onto the bed and was going to…I don't know what he was going to do but I'm one hundred percent certain it wasn't going to be good."

"Sick freak." Rose threw the bat down at James, striking his head with it. "Why didn't you guys tell me?"

"We tried Rose. You were always with him!" Alice cried, freaking out Jake.

Rose's face fell and she looked us both over. We would have been a sight with red puffy eyes from crying and the dry sobs that were still going through Alice. Rose kept silent, not looking either of us in the eye and then left abruptly.

I sat down next to Jake and Alice, comforting the latter while the former comforted me. Rose was muttering in the other room but I wasn't paying attention to what she was up to. Alice needed me, she was still distraught and I'm pretty sure she would cry again if left alone with James, despite the fact he was unconscious.

There was suddenly a kafuffle in the next room and then three voices were heard. Emmett came into the room first, dragging James by the arm into the hall. Edward wrapped his arms round me and held me close. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Jasper holding Alice. She had wrapped herself around his waist and neck and was sobbing into his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" Edward asked, kissing my cheeks softly.

"I think so."

"What is it darlin? Did he hurt you?" Jasper asked Alice.

"I don't think Rose is going to forgive us for this."Jasper smiled at her and shook his head.

"You've done nothing wrong so don't worry. She'll forgive you. Now did he hurt you?"

"No, he didn't even realise I was there. He went for Bella, kept her quiet and had her hands pinned above her head." Edward looked at me with worry.

"Nothing happened." I knew what he was thinking but it didn't get that far. "Jake stepped in." Edward looked relieved but there was still a sight of concern in his eyes. "What's happening with James?"

"Emmett's called a friend; he's a police officer and is going to arrest him. First though James will have to go to the hospital. Rose whacked him pretty hard and we've tried the usual methods to wake him but it's just not happening. He's needs to be checked over properly but don't worry, we won't let him hurt you, any of you."

I pulled Edward forward and kissed him softly, needing to feel his lips after having James's hand over my own. Edward kissed me back but it was more of a comfort kiss. His worries were stepping in on it. After what must have been a split second Edward pulled back and tucked my hair behind my ears.

"I want to take you home." I just nodded and leant against him, feeling exhausted.

"Guys, he's here." Emmett said, sticking his head round the door. Edward and Jasper left Alice and me for a minute before returning.

"We just took him down to the guy's car. Shall we go?"

"Can you give me a minute?" I asked, wanting to talk to Rose.

"Of course, I'll put Jake in my car and come back up for you. Okay?"

"Yeah, thank you." Edward left, Jake at his side. Alice and Jasper were still in the bedroom talking and Emmett was still down at the guy's car. So that left Rose and me alone. "Can we talk?"

"Yeah." Rose leant against the kitchen counter. "I want to apologise Bella. I'm sorry that I never gave you or Alice a chance to talk to me about your problems. Emmett explained it all fully. If I had known he was such a creep I would have thrown him out."

"Would you have Rose?"

"What do you mean by that? Of course I would." She said icily, not liking where I was going.

"I don't think so. You were angry at Alice and me for wanting to get back together with Edward and Jasper. You were so annoyed with what Emmett did to you that you didn't think of how we felt. Yes, we were angry but nowhere near how angry you were. They lied to us, so what? They did it to get our attention because they were scared of being turned down. I was honestly flattered that Edward bought a puppy just so he could talk to me. You shouldn't have tried to force your thoughts on us."

"I know. I'm sorry but I was pissed off. It felt like they were taking us for a ride and I would hate to see you two get hurt."

"What was James? Please don't tell me you actually liked him."

"James was a good distraction from Emmett. They are polar opposites and that's what I needed. I didn't mean for it to turn out like this."

"Well I know that. I didn't think you'd want Alice and me to get practically stalked by your boyfriend."

"Obviously. Can you forgive me?"

"Yeah."

"Will Alice?" I nodded and walked over to her, giving her a hug. "Thanks Bella and again, I'm sorry."

"Stop worrying about it. You didn't know he was a creep."Edward opened the door and Emmett came in, looking at Rose nervously.

"Ready?" I nodded to Edward and let go of Rose, assuring her one more time.

Edward and I walked down to his car. He was holding me close to him the entire time like he was scared that I was just going to fall apart in shock over what happened. I knew that wasn't going to happen but wasn't going to tell him that, I wanted his comfort right now.

We drove back to his place in silence. Once there Edward fetched Jake out the back and then led us upstairs. Jake darted straight off to his blanket while Edward took my hand and brought me back to his bedroom. I didn't know until I saw the big bed with sheets that looked so soft.

"You need to sleep, it's late." Edward said, holding me closely against him.

"I'm not tired." He chuckled but shook his head.

"Bella please don't argue with me."

"I don't want to sleep." Edward smiled but wasn't having it.

"No, you must."

"Then you have to join me."

"You want me to sleep with you?" Edward raised his eyebrows, smirking wickedly as I blushed three different shades.

"Yes." I squeaked out. Edward chuckled and kissed me passionately, moving me backwards.

"As much as I would love for us to do that now it wouldn't be right. You've had a traumatic night and now need to sleep. I love you but do wish you wouldn't be so stubborn." He pecked my cheek and went to his wardrobe for some clothes for me.

I had to do a rewind, several times, over what he just said.

_I love you_

Surely if he said it in conversation meant that he didn't actually mean it as I love you. I certainly wasn't going to ask. Edward didn't even seem to notice he said it so there was no way I was going to repeat it.

He handed me a pair of clean boxers and a t-shirt, kissed my cheek and gave me some privacy to get changed. I just stood there like an idiot for a minute before actually changing.

If he meant it then why would he say it so casually? It was probably just a mistake. But he had been calling me love as of lately and there are other names of endearment he could have called me other than that. So maybe he did mean it and it slipped out.

Ughh I was confused, and now tired. Stupid Edward.

I changed quickly and went to fetch him. If I was going to bed so was he. I took his hand and brought him back through. As I slipped under the soft sheets he stripped to his boxers, allowing me to stare at his glorious chest, and then hit the lights before joining me.

I felt the bed shift as he settled down and then felt his arm on my waist. He pulled me closer to him and kissed me as my hands searched his chest thoroughly. He was perfect.

"Goodnight love." He kissed me once more.

"Night Edward." I leant my head against his chest and could feel his warmth radiating off of him. This was a much better alternative than wrapping up when I went to bed if it was cold.

I didn't care if he didn't love me, I loved him. If he did he'd tell me eventually. Until then I was content just loving him.

_Emmett's POV_

When the phone rang and it was Rose's number my heart jumped straight out of my chest. She would only call me if something awful had happened and considering I knew what was going on tonight I was scared as hell.

"What happened?" I asked.

"How...can you come over? We have a problem." She sounded upset and nervous.

"Is anyone hurt?" Please tell me he didn't get to one of them.

"No, unless you count James. He's unconscious." That made me smile.

"I'll be right over with the guys."

Edward and Jasper were both at their homes, anxious waiting by the phone. I grabbed my cell and keys before going down the jeep, practically running there. I called Edward and Jasper and the two of them were going to meet me there.

We all pulled up at the same time and all darted up the stairs to their apartment. Without even knocking Jasper had the door open and was looking around anxiously. Rose was in the kitchen telling them to go to the bedroom and that's where James was.

I was going to take care of that sick bastard. Edward and Jasper both went to their girls, which made me feel slightly jealous that I couldn't do the same. I pulled James out of the bedroom and into the hall, giving him a swift kick while doing so.

After calling a friend to have James arrested and taken to hospital I went to the kitchen to see Rose. She looked sad, worried and angry. I could understand the first too but didn't get why she was angry, unless she was angry that I had to be here.

"A guys going to pick him up." I said, trying to start a conversation.

"Oh right, thanks." She pushed her hair away from her eyes and I clocked onto what she was wearing. It was almost criminal.

Rose was wearing her underwear, with a tiny thin piece of cloth that I'm sure was meant to be a robe but only reached the top of her thighs and was made of silk. The one thing missing was heels to complete the outfit. She was my perfect fantasy standing three feet in front of me but I couldn't touch her when I longed to.

We stood in an awkward silence until my cell rang. I got the guys to help and we took him down to the guy's truck. Jasper and Edward went back upstairs as I stood and told him what had happened. He agreed with my assessment that the girls could take out a restraining order and Bella could file for charges if she wished.

When I went back up stairs Edward and Bella were leaving but my eyes were on Rose. She would probably ask me to go but I wanted a chance to talk to her, even if it was only for a minute.

"Hi." God I sounded like a tool. What kind of opener was that?

"Hi. Do you want a drink?" Yay, she was asking me to stay. At least for a while anyway.

"Okay, water will be fine." She grabbed a glass from the cupboard and hit the tap. I took a few sips and waited for at least someone to speak.

"Em?" I looked at her and so wanted just to hold her to me.

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry for being a total bitch."

"No, you weren't. You were a little mean but I understand why you didn't want to be lied to. That wasn't right of me."

"If you hadn't I probably would never have spoken to you."

"Oh...right."

"Do you think you can give me a chance? I don't want to lose contact with you."

"Absolutely."

"Friends first?" I bloody hated being friends.

"If we must."

"We must." She crossed her arms and my eyes were drawn to the swell of her breasts. Screw friends.

"So friend, would you like to go to dinner with me tomorrow night?"

"That sounds like a date?" Rose saw right through my cunning plan.

"It is."

"But we're friends." She was beginning to frown at me and I knew it wouldn't take long for it to be a glare.

"Yes we're friends now but when I take you on the date it's because I don't want to be friends any more. I want you to be my girlfriend."

"Emmett..." She warned.

"Rose." I don't care about stupid warnings.

"Fine."

"Really?" I was now over excited.

"Yes."Oh thank the Lord, she gave up fighting and was agreeing to go with me.

"I'll pick you up at seven." I grinned like a fool and kissed her cheek before skipping out the apartment. I felt so good right now.

I was finally getting my chance with her and this time I wouldn't mess it up.


	15. Chapter 15: Truly Happy

_Disclaimer: All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer_

**The Things We Do For Love**

**Chapter Fifteen: Truly Happy**

_Emmett's POV_

I was terrified. Rose was giving me a chance to redeem myself and I didn't want to mess this up. She clearly hated the fact I lied to her so I'd need to find a way to assure her I wouldn't do that again. That's easier said than done.

Everything needed to be perfect so I booked a table at a little restaurant that had good food but wasn't stuffy and pretentious. I was hoping that if she refused to go out with me or accept my apology and caused a scene it wouldn't be too embarrassing.

With my nerves it took me an extra twenty minutes to get ready. I also wanted to look perfect so spent time going through my closet and finding the right shirt, pants, shoes, cufflinks, and all that. In a normal situation when I was this nervous I'd have a strong drink but as I was driving that wasn't wise. We could take a cab but then you get that cab smell on your clothes and I don't want that, tonight had to be perfect

When I pulled up to the girls' apartment my palms were sweating and I felt like I was going to vomit all over my newly shined shoes. I had to get a control over myself or things would be a disaster. I rang the buzzer and Rose let me up. By the time I reached her door I felt like I was going to pass out.

_Calm Emmett, you can do this. _

I knocked on the door and a couple of seconds later Rose opened it for me, revealing her in a beautiful black dress. My mouth was dry and the nerves were just getting worse. She looked fantastic and I definitely felt like I didn't deserve her.

This angel before me was giving me a chance to explain my mess and I was so grateful. Rose gave me a smile, seeing my awed state, and took my hand, shutting the door behind her. I couldn't stop myself from placing my hands on her waist and tucking my face in the crook of her neck.

"You look amazing." I whispered against her soft skin.

"Mmmhhm…thanks." She stepped back and caressed my cheek, running her hands into my hair which felt amazing "We should go."

I nodded and took her hands, kissing them once before taking her down to my car. I opened her door for her, much like Edward does, and then raced round to the driver's side. We were both silent in the car but Rose did glance at me on more than one occasion.

The restaurant was relatively quiet when we arrived and after parking the car we walked hand in hand to the door. The hostess seated us at a table for two near the back of the restaurant then took our drinks order before leaving us.

I wasn't sure whether I should just come right out and apologise, giving all my reasons for what I did or whether I should wait, have small talk for a while and ease into it. Rose wasn't helping me out with that either. She was reading over the menu, not lifting her eyes once.

"Do you see anything that takes your fancy?"

"Several things. I'm actually surprised you didn't take me to a restaurant where the dishes were worth more than what I earn a week. I'm grateful for that though, things feel more down to earth. No so much out of my league."

"Do you normally feel like that?"

"Well yes. Edward, Jasper and you are all rich, hot, plastic surgeons who have money coming out your ears. Occasionally Alice, Bella and I struggle to make rent. Things are very different between us. Once I found out you were a doctor I knew that but then you lied about having to attend the class. My first impressions of you, a normal guy just getting by was shot to hell. You were actually a very rich doctor, top of your class in university and ten times smarter than me. The only reason you signed up for my class was to get under my skirt."

"Rose that's not the reason I joined the class. When we bumped into each other I did think you were incredibly hot but then you opened your mouth saying you were going to classes and that meant you had to be smart. What I'm trying to say is that I was intrigued by you. My first thought was that you were my perfect girl. A mechanics class, do you know how sexy that is?"

Rose laughed lightly and shook her head, ignoring my dimples that I had brought out to get her to think about forgiving me.

"I'm sorry I lied but I really thought you were out of my league. You're a gorgeous girl and I was just a blundering fool who walked into you. What shot did I have?"

"When you told me you were also in my mechanic class I was gutted. I thought I had found a good looking guy who seemed laid back and someone who shared interests with me. Turned out, after everything, you lied right off the bat."

"I am sorry about that Rose. I normally don't lie but I was scared you would think I was a freak if after I apologised for walking in to you I asked you out. I would have come out as a complete creep. You even said last night that if I hadn't lied to you then you wouldn't have spoken to me."

"Yeah I know. Look I don't know what to think of this. You lied and I hate that but like you reminded me I wouldn't have spoken to you otherwise. I wish you hadn't lied but I also wish that we could have been together even after that. I'm sorry for being cruel to you and I want us to try again."

"I already forgave you. In my mind you had good reasons, even though they were a little mean. About us trying again, I'd really like that. So, I'm Emmett McCarty, a plastic surgeon who does pro bono work on the side and I'm practically qualified mechanic. Nice to meet you."

Rose laughed again and shook her head, reaching across the table and shaking my hand. It seemed to work, she loosened up and the stress of the previous conversation had seeped away.

"I'm Rosalie Hale, people call me Rose, and I teach a mechanics class at the university. Pleasure to meet you too."

From there we talked nonstop and things became easier as the night progressed, with no help from alcohol. I really loved this woman and tonight just brought that home. If she hadn't have let us start over then I'd be miserable, much like I was before the whole James incident that brought us back together.

I hate that pervy bastard but he seriously did me a favour.

Once dinner was over I took Rose back to her apartment and walked her to the door. She hunted out her keys while I leant against the wall watching as she moved so elegantly. Rose opened the door then turned to me.

"I had a good time tonight and I'm glad we could start again." She pushed my hair back and kissed me, softly at first but things picked up. How could it not when I was kissing her? My lust for her was through the roof.

"Emmett." She moaned as I made my way down her neck.

"I'm sorry." I said, stepping back. I wasn't going to let us jump straight to sex, that wouldn't bode well for us as a couple, though we hadn't actually agreed to that yet.

"Don't apologise." She moved forward but I stopped her, just holding her against my chest.

"Rosie, I want you to be my girlfriend." She tensed slightly then looked up at me.

"I'd like that." After a small peck on the lips she removed herself from my arms and walked into her apartment. "Call me sometime, okay?"

"Absolutely." We parted on a smile and I went back to my car feeling relieved that things with us were coming together.

I loved Rose but with my lying it would take some time to win her trust back. I wouldn't be telling her anytime soon but I would tell her eventually, away in the future. Rose was the girl for me, that much I knew and I'd do anything for us to stay together.

Edward started this all with his crazy idea to get the hot dog walker to talk to him, now he's madly in love with her and will most likely propose. I followed with Rose, joining her class and being convinced I was in love with her the second I saw her on the street. Then there was Jasper, the non-believer, who turned everything around when he saw Alice.

We were just three guys who focused on our work more than anything but now our lives revolve around three women and everything about them. We all did some crazy things for love and I have to say it paid off.

Driving back to my apartment I felt truly happy. I had a great job with plenty of chances to help the community, great friends who'd be there for me through everything, and now I had a great girl who had my heart even though she didn't know that yet. What more could I want? Nothing, in my mind, I had everything.

A.N.

Only the epilogue to go.


	16. Epilogue: Bella's Right

_Disclaimer: All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer_

**The Things We Do For Love**

**Epilogue: Bella's Right **

_Edward's POV_

If someone had told me that one day I'd buy a puppy just to get the local dog walker to talk to me I'd tell them they were crazy and suggest a doctor for them to see. For starters I actually don't like dogs, or at least I didn't like dogs.

The once fluff ball that ran around causing terror had turned into the perfect pet after several weeks of dog training classes and I got why dogs were referred to as man's best friend.

Jake had brought me the woman of my dreams and although he was a dog I was eternally grateful for that. So for the rest of his days I'd spoil him rotten for doing exactly what I needed from him.

If he hadn't have run round Bella and tripped her up, requiring that hospital visit then we still could have been employer and employee that rarely spoke. My boy came through for me and I wouldn't have been able to do it without him.

The one thing I wanted him to have was what I had, someone to love. He loved Bella and I'm sure if he were human he would be a rival for me, but that was different. He didn't have another dog around.

So when I brought back a dog from the shelter named Nessie that looked similar to Jake except she had bronze coloured fur, I wanted them to hit it off. Yes I was playing cupid for my dog. Bella thought I was being a complete idiot but hey, every guy deserved to feel what I felt day in and day out.

Nessie at first was cautious of Jake and didn't like it when he came over to sniff her. Bella agreed that if I had done that to her on our first meeting she would have lunged for me too. With the first exchange looking poorly I was pleasantly surprised to find them curled up on Jake's bed later that night.

My matchmaking skills were shining through and I was elated that I could do this for him. However, the next morning Nessie wouldn't let Jake eat any of his food and seemed to be taking charge.

"That's natural." Bella claimed. "Don't you realise that women take over like we're meant to?" She joked but there was some truth to her words.

After our occasionally meetings I couldn't stop thinking about her and she in fact had taken over my brain and heart. All I wanted was to please her and see her again so was willing to do anything for that. Jake, it seemed, was willing to go hungry for Nessie.

I wasn't impressed with him for this. He should be eating too, standing up and being a man. That didn't gain me any points and when I tried to explain that to Bella she thought I wanted him to put Nessie in her place like men had been doing since the beginning of time to women. This brought me an uncomfortable night's sleep on the couch after being kicked out of our bed.

Yes, our bed. Bella had moved in with me three months after the James thing. I finally plucked up the courage to tell her I loved her and then asked her to move in. Thankfully she agreed and also said it back.

Now that we lived together things were a lot more stressful than they were before. We'd argue over the bathroom, whose turn is it to wash the dishes, what car to take, where to eat when going out, how to punish Jake when he was bad, who hogs all the covers at night and a million other things like that.

But I wouldn't have it any other way.

We weren't the only ones that had our differences though. Alice and Jasper were in a full on argument over what colour to paint the baby's room. Jazz wanted a dark green whereas Alice wanted a light blue. I'm pretty sure they'll paint the room half and half.

Her pregnancy was a shock to us. They aren't married and it was an accident but they say it's the best accident that's ever happened to them. So I wish them good luck, they'll be great parents.

Emmett and Rose are taking things slow and I actually think they still haven't slept with each other. Em seems convinced that this will make them stronger as a couple while Rose thinks Em has been hit on the head one too many times and lost it. The rest of us have a bet on seeing how long they'll last. Though with Alice betting on their wedding night I hate to think that I'll lose substantially.

"Stop watching the dogs." Bella said, walking into the living room.

"I wasn't." I fibbed.

"Stop lying to me." She said as she went into the kitchen and returned with a glass of water. "Don't tell me you've been sitting here since I left?"

"Fine, I won't tell you."

"Edward." She groaned, Nessie and Jake looking up to see what was going on.

"Well come on, she treats him like crap but welcomes him into her bed. That's just not right."

"Sounds like something Rose and Em would do if they finally got around to sealing the deal." I nodded in agreement. That's the exact type of foreplay they'd have.

"But why does he put up with it? I mean she won't let him eat half the time, constantly barks at him when he tries to sniff her but then they get all cuddly."

"He puts up with it because he loves her. For example, you put up with me and how I take too long in the shower, take all the covers at night and how I don't have an issue making you sleep on the couch because you love me."

"True, but it's like he needs to grow a pair." I wouldn't have Jake acting so sissy.

"Edward that's physically impossible after they were removed." She had a point. If he grew them back I'd be bloody impressed.

"How can he stand this crazy shit?"I moaned, watching as Nessie stopped Jake from having a drink of water when he was by the bowl first.

"He loves her."

"I don't think dogs can love." Bella snorted and scooted over onto my lap.

"You played cupid by getting Nessie in the first place and now you're telling me that dogs can't love. That's what's crazy here." I ignored Bella and called Nessie over. She sat at my feet and turned into my hand when I stroked her.

"Why are you so mean to my boy over there, huh?" Yeah, I speak to the dogs. It's hard not to.

"Don't expect her to answer. She's following the female code. We never reveal our secrets to the men." I rolled my eyes and Bella swatted my arm.

"Nessie, please be good to Jake. Now I know he can be a pain in the ass and probably does some annoying things we don't know about but come on, give the guy a chance." Nessie just licked my hand and took no notice of what I was saying.

"Jake!" Bella called over. He, like Nessie, sat at my feet and waited for Bella to pat him. "You're doing a great job with her champ but maybe you should stand up for yourself a little. She can't dominate you all the time. Now I'm not saying put her down or hurt her cause if you do you'll be in big trouble, but just stand your ground. Okay?"

Jake didn't seem to care for what Bella was saying and turned into her hand that was scratching his ears.

"I feel like we're giving relationship counselling to our dogs." I admitted to Bella.

"We are." She smiled at me and sent the dogs back to their blankets.

Jake already had a bed but when Nessie arrived she took his and he took the new one. They would sometimes curl up on the same one but Jake got the shorter end of the stick and would end up mostly on the hard wooden floor. So Bella and I decided to get big blankets for them to share and now they could curl up together easily, which they did.

"If Nessie doesn't change her ways I think Jake is sacrificing a lot and that doesn't seem fair."

"That's just the things we do for love Edward. He's willing to sacrifice when he eats and drinks so she's happy. Emmett's willing to sacrifice his sex life to make him and Rose stronger. Jasper is willing to sacrifice his plans for the baby's room so Alice is happy and you Edward are willing to sacrifice some of your thoughts so that I'm happy and you don't have to sleep on the couch."

She probably couldn't have put it better even if she tried.

"You're right." I said as we washed our hands.

"Oh I know that. Didn't I tell you, women are always right?" I snorted and shook my head but stopped immediately when I saw her eyebrows raised in question and that you're-going-to-sleep-on-the-couch look in her eyes.

"I…eh...well you see-" I began, trying to fix the damage I had done.

"I'm kidding." Bella said, laughing at my reactions. "You're just too cute."

When we returned to the living room Jake and Nessie were sharing the water bowl, having a drink together. Such a simple thing but it meant so much.

Bella was one hundred percent right, these were the things we do for love. Without them love wouldn't work and the six of us, eight if you now count Jake and Nessie, would never have found happiness.

A.N.

Thanks to everyone who has read, reviewed, added this to their favourite or alert lists. It really means a lot to me. Thanks also to TheSpoiltOne for your encouragement and reminding me why it was important to finish this story.


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